Yu Yu Hakusho: A Diamond's Heart
by Yu-Shin Chen
Summary: A group of demons known as the Prism Bandits are set on kidnapping a girl named Yuki whose crystal clear past has been shrouded in darkness. Can they unlock the mystery of her mother's murder and discover the power of the Snow Diamond before its too late?
1. Meeting Yuki

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters.

Note 1: This will be an AU and character pairings as well OOCness.

Note 2: Okay so this is taking part maybe a month or two after the Dark Tournament Arc. I first started writing this story in quizilla under the same title but I decided to switch over to here. I have like one chapter up over there, and it's a self insert kind of story. If you'd like me to continue there then I guess I will be but I'll probably update more her. Anyway, on to the story!!

* * *

Yu Yu Hakusho_**  
A Diamond's Heart**_

Chapter One  
Meeting Yuki

"Good morning, boys." Koenma says as Yusuke and Kuwabara walk into his office. Kurama and Hiei are already inside, standing near his desk, as well as Botan. "Pick a spot where you can see the TV."

"Can we hurry this along." Yusuke whined, "I've got school to skip."

"While your statement makes absolutely no sense," Koenma stated, "I've got your next mission right here."

"What?!" Yusuke complained, "We just got back from the Dark Tournament!"

"Yeah!" Kuwabara agreed, "It's barely been a month! Don't we even get a break?"

"Normally I would have liked to give you some rest time, but look here." Koenma pressed a button on his remote control. The TV scrolled down and flashed, showing them a picture of a girl that looked around the age of fourteen or fifteen years old. Her skin was pale, like beautiful porcelain, and her hair was long, reaching to the small of her back, wavy, and a rich light brown color. Her most stunning feature, however, was perhaps her kind, deep, ice blue eyes that almost seemed to stare at them from the screen. Her eyes looked decidedly lonely, though the boys could not quite put their finger on why.

"Ooh who's the cutey?" Kuwabara asked, his face immediately lighting up.

"Oh, and here we thought you were in love with Yukina, Kuwabara." Yusuke said mockingly. Kuwabara glared at him, as well as, unbeknownst to him, Hiei, whilst Kurama chuckled to himself.

"Of course I still love Yukina!" Kuwabara shouted, "I was just...you know...saying."

"This young girl's name is Yuki Inoue." Botan said, "And don't be fooled by her appearance. She is no ordinary human girl."

"In fact, she's not human at all." Koenma stated as he pressed another button. This time it showed a girl with straight ice blue hair reaching to the small of her back. Her skin, too, was pale and she wore a no sleeved blue tinted white drape styled dress. Her left shoulder didn't have a sleeve, revealing a strange shape that ran all the way to the middle of her chest, though it was concealed by her dress. Her eyes were like Yuki's deep and kind, and the shade of ice, only they were much happier than Yuki's lonely ones. "This is Lady Hyousetsu."

Kurama frowned a bit as he looked at her eyes, "But Koenma, are they not the same girl?"

"You're exactly right. As perseptive as usual, Kurama."

"Wait, what do you mean they're the same girl?" Yusuke questioned. "They can't be..."

"Lady Hyousetsu and Yuki Inoue are indeed the same girl. Yuki would be, how shall I put it? Yuki is Lady Hyousetsu's human form, and she happens to be an ice apparition, and a very skilled one at that." Koenma pressed another button, bringing up the images of the girls side by side on the screen.

"You mean she's like a koorime?" Kuwabara asked, making Hiei's eyes perk with a little more interest. "Does that mean she produces Tear Gems too?"

"No." Botan answered, "Though she is an ice type demon, she is not a Koorime, and therefore she can't do the same things as Yukina can, like producing pearls from her tears."

"We haven't got time to explain everything just now, but once you meet her she'll explain it." Koenma said urgently, "Your mission is to not only protect this girl, but to find the people who are chasing after her and stop them. Look here." The screen changed once again, showing a large group of demons. Most notably at the front was a tall man with dark black hair and leering green eyes as well as the man standing next to him, a youth with dark blue hair and pale icy blue eyes. "They call themselves the Prism Bandits, and they're a gang of demons who steal and pillage at will. Do not be fooled by their "average, everyday thug" appearance. They're very dangerous and they've already killed her father."

"Sir!" George came rushing into the room.

"Ogre!" Koenma shouted angrily, "I happen to be in the middle of a very important meaning! Now, what is it?!"

"Sir, i assure you I wouldn't have interrupted under normal circumstances," George cowered a bit before saying, "But I assure you, sir, I have a very good reason!"

"Just spit it out already!"

"Lady Hyousetsu was seen near the area where the portal that will bring her to Reikai is going to be opened."

"That's the urgent news?" Koenma sighed and rolled his eyes, "Of course she's near there, because she's supposed to be there, you oaf!"

"But some people were spotted following her!" George cried, handing Koenma a picture of these supposed people, "And they're definitely not her castle guards, Sir. If I may say, Sir, this is bad! I think that she could be in real trouble here! You've got to do something about this!"

"Castle guards?" Yusuke asked curiously. "Just who is this girl?"

"There's no time to explain." Koenma said, his eyes wide and glued to the picture in front of him, "These men are Prism Bandit members no doubt. Quickly, you must go to Makai and save her!"

"I'll show them the way!" Botan shouted, "Come on, boys, there's no time to waste!" The four boys swiftly followed Botan out of the office.

"Oh, why did they have to find her?" Koenma said. He looked down upon the picture that showed a group of demons, all with a heptagon, each side one color of the rainbow, tattooed visibly somewhere on their body. Gripping the image tightly he said, "Hurry, Yusuke."  


* * *

Yuki sat on a boulder awaiting for a portal to be opened to bring her to Spirit World, where she was supposed to be meeting the supposed Spirit Detectives who would protect her. She wore a dress that was so white it looked as if it should be see through, though it was not, and flowed gracefully, falling down to just above her knees. The dress was no sleeved and the color was low, but did not show her small cleavage, though if you were close you could see the tip of something blue that continued down, and her forearms had white sleeves not attached to the main dress that fell into a sort of bell styled sleeve, covering her hands, with red ribbons strung through them. Her shoes were red and her hair was pulled into a "half up, half down" style with a long, flowing red ribbon. Around her neck was a black choker with a jewel similar to a sapphire fashioned into a snowflake upon it.

Yuki sighed as she looked around herself. Her guards wore white armor and were posted all around her. She sat with a straight back as she looked all around cautiously, looking for any sign of danger. As a nervous twitch one hand went to an arrow in the quiver on her back while the other carressed her finely crafted, redwood bow next to her.

"There is nothing to worry, Princess." A guard came up to her, "You have nothing to worry about. We will ensure that you arive safely into Reikai."

"Thank you." She gave him a kind smile, though his words did little to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Something bad was about to happen, she knew it, but she didn't know what exactly.

"You there!" A guard a few meters away shouted at a lone demon approaching them, "This is a protected area, so you must leave this area at once."

The ugly lizard demon snickered, eyeing Yuki from afar, "You must be Lady Hyousetsu. Wish they'd've told me you'd be such a beauty. I'd like to keep you for myself, but a job's a job!"

"You will not touch the Princess!" The white clad guards quickly gathered in front of the demon.

"Calm down, boys." Another demon spoke, but this time from behind. The rest of the demons had gathered at the backside of the guards, cutting them off from Yuki. "We just want to talk to Lady Hyousetsu."

"You call murdering my father just talking?!" Yuki swiftly drew an arrow and shot it at the demon who had spoken. It sank dead on into the center of the demon's head, marking the beginning of the battle. Though her guards were not weak, the lizard demons hired to take Yuki overpowered them, easily defeating them with three lizard demons left to take Yuki away.

"Now just come quietly, Lady Hyousetsu." They leered at her. "The Prism Bandits paid us good money to capture you for them, and it'd make it a lot easier on you to just come with us."

"Never." She replied, drawing another arrow. "I will never go with the likes of you!" She shot the arrow, but this time it was no use. The large demon raised his heavy tail and smashed the arrow right out of the air into tiny pieces.

"Your arrows will not harm us!" He snickered, stepping over the shattered arrow and towards her. "Now come quietly!"

Yuki shot another arrow, but he dodges to the right this time. It does, however, lodge painfully into his arm, making the demon cry out in pain. He glared at her, "You wench! We were told not to harm you, but you don't need your arms and legs to speak!" His tail suddenly extended forward. Yuki jumped backwards, dodging him whilst shooting another arrow, but she wasn't quick enough. The demon wrapped his tail around her, squeezing her in a bone crushing grip, and lifted her into the air. Something like needles pricks through her skin, and, looking down, she realized that his tail has barbs upon them.

The demon began to laugh, "Do you like it? My tail has barbs on them full of poison! The poison's effects are slow, but they're very painful!"

"Release her!" Someone cries as a flash of light strikes through the air, producing the four boys. Kuwabara and Yusuke charge at the other lizard demon whilst Kurama and Hiei run towards the one holding Yuki.

Hiei zoomed forward and disappeared from view. He slashed through the demons head in the blink of an eye and it fell to the ground. As the demon's body falls with a thud to the ground, it's tail released Yuki. She dropped to the floor safely, but her legs had become weak, and she soon fell to her knees upon the floor, her head spinning.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked. "Did you get hurt?"

"I think I'm okay for the moment." Yuki replied.

"Those puncture wounds," Kurama said, looking at the small holes the lizard demon's barbed tail had caused, "Permit me to take a look at them, Lady Hyousetsu."

Yuki's eyes snap wide open upon his use of her formal name. She looked up into his green eyes with suspicion in her own blue ones. Was he one of the bandits? She asks herself. Could the fight before just have been a ploy to gain her trust? She decided she couldn't take that chance and slipped a kunai hidden in her sleeve down to her hand. Swiftly, she lunged forward, intent on stabbing Kurama, not to kill him but to at least wound him.

Hiei reacted with a quicker speed then Yuki, slapping the dagger from her hand. He pushed her harshly down onto the ground, pinning her with a hand around her throat. "You would be wise to not do that again."

"Hiei!" Kurama said, trying to stop him.

"Get off me!" Yuki shouted as his hand only tightens around her throat. At first she tried to release herself by kicking and clawing, but it was of no use. Hiei was much stronger physically than she and couldn't overpower his grip. She began to calm down when she realized he was not trying to strangle her. "Please release me." She said softly, looking up into his red eyes with her lonely blue ones. Hiei was surprised by her diamond eyes, but only showed it for a second, before pulling back.

"Hell of a way to greet someone." Yusuke said sarcastically as Kurama assisted Yuki to her feet.

"Yeah, why'd you go and attack her, Hiei?" Kuwabara glared at him. "Shrimpy little jerk."

"Hn. She attacked first." Hiei replied.

"You are Lady Hyousetsu, yes?" Kurama inquired. Yuki confirmed his question with a nod, but she began to sway on her feet. "I am Kurama."

"Hi, I'm Yusuke. And the goofy looking one is Kuwabara." Yusuke said, trying to loosen the air.

"Hey!" He protested.

"And he's Hiei." All three of the boys look towards Hiei, who stood next to Yuki, and looked away.

"It's...nice to...meet you..." Yuki gasps out, her face notably flushed. Her temperature had skyrocketed up and her vision began to blur. Her legs suddenly gave out from under her, causing her to fall to her side and crash right into Hiei. Thankfully, he had enough sense to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yusuke questioned in concern.

Kurama quickly examined the puncture wounds dotting her body, "She's been poisoned!" Kurama shouted, but Yuki had already slipped into unconsciousness.

_**To Be Continued...**_

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Okay, so yeah that was the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Reviewing fuels my writing, so please review! I'll see if I can make the second chapter soon, so please be patient!!


	2. Identity Unknown

Yu Yu Hakusho_**  
A Diamond's Heart**_

Chapter Two  
Identity Unknown

The boys quickly brought Yuki back to Reikai. Kurama, being the intelligible one, brought the tail of the lizard demon that had poisoned her with them. Once they were back in Reikai, Botan directed them towards the infirmary, and Yuki, along with the tail sample, were sent to the emergency room. Through a monitor on the screen they could tell that Yuki's subconscious mind was riddled with pain though in her unconscious state she could not cry out, and the amount of pain only seemed to increase with time. Though they did not know her, the boys could not help but worry as the healers scrambled to find the antidote, her life hanging in the balance as she fought to survive the pain.

"Oh, this absolutely awful." Botan commented, looking into the operation room from the large windows, standing in the hallways. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting on the benches outside, Kurama leaning up against the wall nearby. Hiei, however, was nowhere to be seen. Botan had just come from Koenma's office, "Koenma's completely worried for her safety. Is there really no antidote for this? He just keeps pacing up and down his office and he just won't stop..."

Kuwabara growled, stamping his feet and curling his hands into fists, "I can't take this anymore! How can we just sit here and do nothing when she's in there dying?!"

"I think I will go and assist them." Kurama suddenly said, "I'm very good with poisons. Perhaps I can find the antidote." Kurama went into the room and the healers, who hadn't a clue what they were doing, were gracious for the demon fox's abilities with plants.

"Great just great!" Kuwabara shouted, "And what're we supposed to do?!"  
"Would you quit shouting?" Yusuke asked, "It's not like we can do anything but sit and wait anyway...Dammit, if we had been just a little faster..."

"Oh, boys..." Botan said, feeling just as bad as them. "Has either of you seen Hiei? In all the confusion it took to get Yuki to the infirmary he seems to have disappeared now."

"I don't know where he went..." Yusuke said.

No one knew, but Hiei had escaped to another region of the castle. The room he stood in had a sun roof opening to the night sky. He watched as the sun began to set, and he was still watching as the sky filled with dazzling, shimmering stars. His large red eyes remained glued to the sky, barely blinking. There was a turmoil, a rolling, twisting and turning, anguish tumbling about inside of himself that he found unsettling. It was unsettling because he couldn't understand what it was.

* * *

The next day broke with brilliantly bright morning sun. Kurama had worked nonstop with the healers straight through the not. Yusuke had fallen asleep on the bench, Kuwabara leaning up against him. Some time through the night Botan had placed a blanket upon them, but now she had gone to carry out her grim reaper duties. Hiei trekked into the hallway, looking at the boys for a second, before looking into the room where Yuki was. Kurama came out of the room, rubbing the sweat from his brow. Hiei didn't have to say a word, because Kurama already knew why he was there, "She's fine. She'll be sore all over, but she will live. Her temperature is slowly lowering and the monitor reads that her pain has completely vanished." Hiei nodded, signifying that he understood.

A loud yawn told the two that Yusuke and Kuwabara were awakening. Yusuke rubbed his sleepy eyes, "Mm...Kurama?"

"She's just fine." Kurama answered before hearing the question. He calmly walked towards the bench and then collapsed onto the bench next to Kuwabara, "She'll probably be transfered to another room to heal properly."

"That's great." Kuwabara sighed.

"Hey three eyes, you finally made it." Yusuke joked with him.

"Hn." Hiei looked away.

Yuki could hear noises and movement but couldn't quite make them out. It sounded as if people were arguing, or were they just shouting? She couldn't tell; for some reason her brain wouldn't compute the sound entering through her ears. As she floating in and out of consciousness, images of her distant memory began to surface.

_"Come now, Hyousetsu." A beautiful, pale woman approached her dressed in an elegant white dress. "You look lovely, come see in the mirror." She felt herself moving and suddenly she was looking at a girl who looked around five years old. Her hair was long and icy blue, her eyes were cheerful and of a slightly darker hue. She wore a pretty dress covered with lace. "There now," The woman kneeled behind her, smiling. She wore blue lipstick and her hair was white tinged with blue. "Don't you look beautiful?"_

_"I guess it's alright..." She said, pouting._

"...sure she's alright..." Yuki heard "...looks pale...she's okay?"

"Oh, Kuwabara stop complaining!"

"...positive...found the antidote..."

"Hn, idiot..."

"...that, shrimp?!"

_Yuki felt herself fall and a sheer pain on her leg as she fell down. "Waaaaaaah!" The young princess cried._

_"Hyousetsu!" A boy who was several years older than she was at her side immediately, "You alright?"_

_"My knee!" Hyousetsu cried. "Waaaaaaaaah!!"_

_"Oh, come here my darling." Despite his icy exterior, a man with dark blue hair laughed warmly as he approached Hyousetsu, "Come let daddy see. Now tell me, why is my pretty, darling daughter crying?"_

"Look!" Yusuke exclaimed. "She...She's crying..."

Yuki's eyes were closed, still lost in the unconscious world, but tears continued to fall down her cheeks as she supposedly slept soudly. "F-Father..." Yuki whispered.

"I sent you there to protect her." Koenma said crossly, "That demon could have eaten her!

"Okay start answering questions." Yusuke pointed at Koenma. "Who exactly is this girl and what the heck is going on?!"

Koenma sighed, "I had hoped Yuki would explain it to you...The explanation is long and quite complicated, so all of you better sit down."

"Uh, okay..." Kuwabara said as they all somehow found chairs.

"Sir, really, shouldn't we wait till she wakes up?" Botan asked.

"Actually, now that I think about it, it might just be better this way." Koenma replied. He then turned to the boys, "As you know, this girl's formal name is Lady Hyousetsu. She is the princess of Snow Kingdom and the only living heir to the throne. In fact, if she were old enough, she would be queen right now."

The four boys, including Hiei, gave him a surprised look, but for different reasons. "You can't...You can't be serious?!" Yusuke said. "Well I guess that explains the castle guards..."

"She's a princess?!" Kuwabara said in disbelief, "She doesn't look very much like a princess...She's not even wearing a crown..."

"Don't be fooled, Kuwabara." Botan stated, "For the time being she has chosen not to wear her royal circlet so she won't attract any unwanted attention while she's away from the safety of her castle."

"I have heard many tales about the Snow Kingdom." Kurama said, "Though I myself have never seen it, they say at the top of a snow covered mountain is huge crater filled with clear water, and at its center is a white kingdom. Many have searched for it but most have never even laid eyes on the mountain. The only way to really communicate with them is if they want to communicate with those outside. I have heard that all ice type demons and apparitions originated from this kingdom in ancient times, though some say that it is merely a legend."

"Yes, even Koorime." Koenma nodded, "However, the Koorime are an independent tribe, and the ice demons of Snow Kingdom aren't an all female race. And I can assure you, Kurama, Snow Kingdom is very much real. It's people are generally gentle and compared to other empires in Makai it has enjoyed a relatively quiet and peaceful life."

"Up until recently Lady Hyousetsu, or now called Yuki has, I guess you could say, a nice life." Botan commented, "But when you're royalty, your life is never really normal. She used to have a mother and an older brother, but they're all gone now...Poor girl, she's all alone..."

"The Prism Bandits somehow found their way into Snow Kingdom." Koenma continued, "And the King, Yuki's father, was assassinated."

"Yeah, okay, we got that." Yusuke frowned, "But what the hell for? I mean, it's not as if they could gain anything from killing him since they left Yuki alive, right?"

"She narrowly escaped that time." Botan put in almost angrily. "How many run ins with death do you want her to come into contact with before you start taking this more seriously?!"

Koenma cleared his throat, making them listen, "There is evidence that the king was tortured for a long time before being brutally murdered. They were looking for something, some sort of information, but obviously they could not get it from him, so they moved on to Yuki. Yuki, as I've said, is the only remaining heir to the throne. If she were to die, there would be absolute chaos within the empire."

"But this entire situation makes no sense." Kurama said.

"Yeah." Kuwabara agreed, "Everything seems to do with the demons, so why are we getting involved?"

"I was under the impression that Reikai doesn't get involved in the affairs of Makai as long as none of it touches on Ningenkai." Yusuke said.

"Because," Yuki suddenly spoke up from her hospital bed, "Snow Kingdom is a powerhouse in Makai. Though it only rules over one nation, many others follow its example. The balance in Makai would be thrown off. Nations, in the ensuing confusion, would attack each other. There would be absolute chaos."

"Oh Yuki, you're awake!" Botan said cheerfully, "You must feel absolutely terrible!"

She, however, ignored Botan for the moment, "In short, Makai would be faced with a civil war that could prove cataclysmic for Makai, and if their battles spill over into Ningenkai then your world as you know it may be coming to an end."

"Ahh!" Kuwabara shouted, "You're kidding! You have to be kidding me!"

"Let's not freak out now." Botan said calmly, "As long as Yuki survives their will be order in Snow Kingdom, so now civil wars just yet."

"And as long as you boys do your jobs they can't extract whatever information they want from Yuki." Koenma said, "Alright, now to get down to business. I want to make one thing clear: Yuki is never to be alone anywhere. Understood? At least one of you accompany Yuki at all times, got it? During the day, Yuki will attend class with you and Kuwabara, Yusuke. Oh and by the way she'll need to stay at one of your houses ever night. Well, I'll leave the planning to all of you. Good luck, Yuki, and I'll be expecting a report from you shortly." He then left the hospital room.

"What?!" Kuwabara shouted indignantily, "How am I supposed to explain this to my sister?!"

"And my mom!" Yusuke yelled, "Oh god! What if she thinks we're getting married or something?!?!?!"

Yuki began to giggle, "I'll manage somehow, that's alright. I am a demon after all."

"That's not necessary." Kurama said, smiling at her, "I'm sure my mother would't have any problems with allowing you to stay out our home. I'll just tell her that you're a foreign exchange student. Besides, she's always wanted a "daughter" to take care of."

"Really?" Yuki smiled back, "Thank you so much. Oh?" She frowned, looking at all those present, "Where is he?"

"Where is who, Yuki dear?" Botan asked, "Are you sure you don't want to lie down a bit longer?"

"The other one." Yuki replied. "Let's see, you're Kurama, right? And Yusuke and Kuwabara. Where is...Hiei?"

"My whereabouts are none of your concern." Hiei said dryly from the corner, stepping out of the shadows, "And just my luck, isn't it? I'm stuck _babysitting_ again. Don't think I'm going to spend all my time watching you just because I've been given orders. I'll leave that to the humans." Hiei then turned and walked out of the hospital room without even looking back.

"Somehow...I get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much..." Yuki said, looking up at the remaining three boys and Botan from her seat in her hospital bed.

"Don't worry, Yuki, he's always just a stick in the mud." Botan said in her usual cheery tone.

"Hiei takes a bit of time to decipher." Kurama said, chuckling, "Don't worry. You'll get to know him soon enough."

"So now what're we supposed to do?" Yusuke questioned, "Sit around and wait till those demons come and attack again?"

"Well of course not!" Botan replied, "I think it'd be best if you got her more acquainted with what it means to be a human. After all, she'll probably be remaining here for quite some time. Now Yuki, Kurama's decent enough, and you don't have to worry about these two because their completely harmless. Don't worry; everything's going to be just fine now. Alright, I've got some other duties to attend to now, boys, I'll drop you down into Ningenkai but then I've got to be off."

"Wait, Botan!" Yusuke shouted, "What're we supposed to do with a teenaged girl?!"

* * *

"Great." Yusuke sighed as the three boys and Yuki walked down a street in their hometown, "It's just like being stuck with Keiko, except this time I can't ditch her."

"Who's Keiko?" Yuki asked.

"That's his girlfriend, Lady Hyousetsu." Kuwabara said, grabbing her hands, "But don't worry. The brave Kazuma Kuwabara is here. I'll protect you from any harm that comes your way."

"Hey, she's not my girlfriend!" Yusuke denied as usual, "And why are you grabbing people like that? She's gonna think we're weird or something."

"On the contrary, Mr. Detective." Yuki giggled, "I think it'll be very fun to pretend to be a human for awhile!"

"See, Lady Hyousetsu thinks I'm funny!" Kuwabara laughed.

Yuki suddenly stopped giggling and looked them dead in the face, "Please refrain from calling me that."

"Huh?" The boys stopped, confused by her sudden change in demeanor.

"I don't completely mind..." Yuki said quietly, "I realize that Lady Hyousetsu is my formal name, if it can be called that. I am sorry to say it but I don't remember that much from back when I used to be called Lady Hyousetsu. I'd like it much better if you just called me Yuki."

"Well...Okay then..." Yusuke agreed.

"Thank you."

"Well, Yuki, perhaps I should go inform my mother of your arrival now." Kurama stated and went to a nearby pay phone.

"So Yuki, you can't remember anything from when you were in Makai?" Yusuke asked.

"That isn't what I meant." Yuki said smilingly, "I forgot who I was a long time ago, and they told me my name was Lady Hyousetsu. Since I could not remember, I just decided to start over. There was no point in trying to force myself to remember because it just doesn't happen that way."

"Well," Kurama said as he returned, "My mother is just fine with you staying with us."

"That's great, Kurama." Kuwabara replied, "Now I won't have to explain this to my sister."

"So," Yuki said earnestly, "What do humans do when they've got no prior engagements?"

"What do you mean no prior engagements?" Yusuke said indignantly, "You know, _Princess_, we are supposed to be in class right now."

"Did I just hear Urameshi right?" Kuwabara asked.

"Oh, that's right!" realization flooded over Yuki's face, "I completely forgot! Should we go now then?"

"Are you crazy I was just kidding." Yusuke grinned, "Let's...Hit the arcades!"

"Arcades? What's that?"

"Oh it's a wonderful place." Yusuke laughed, "Full of lights and sounds and you win stuff all the time too! I'll show ya!"

* * *

Yusuke and Kuwabara brought Yuki, much to Kurama's disapproval, to their favorite arcade. Kuwabara first showed her how to play the car racing games, to which Yuki found much delight in pressing the gas pedal down to the floor and zooming forward even though she constantly crashed, and second Yusuke taught her how to play the pachinko slot machines. Though she could not win nearly as much as an expert like Yusuke, the flashing lights dazzled the girl to no end. Afterwards, Yusuke decided to give her his winnings and showed her to the exchange counter where he had them exchanged for several different and elegant looking bottles of perfume, a white pouch like purse on a noodle strap to hold the bottles, as well as a small hand held game.

"Might I suggest we go somewhere else now." Kurama said. Though he was pleading with them one wouldn't be able to tell from his voice.

"Okay, Kurama." Yuki said as she put her game inside the pouch, "Since we did stuff that Kuwabara and Yusuke wanted to do already, where would you like to go?"

"I think a nice, safe, _**respectable**_ thing to do would be to go to the amusement park." Kurama indicated the brightly lit enclosed area at the end of the street.

As they looked upon it a cart of a dozen people on a rollercoaster zoomed across its tracks. Its passengers screamed in delight and fear as it went sprialling down. Yuki took a step back, thinking the rollercoaster was a giant serpentine demon, "Are...you sure it's safe? That thing is eating those humans!"

"With the responses you've been having," Yusuke said, "You're startin to make me think you've never seen anything except your palace!"

"Is it...that obvious?" Yuki asked.

"You've never been out of your palace before?" Kuwabara questioned.

"I never really had any need to do so." Yuki replied, skipping ahead of them a little. She quickly turned back to them, her hands folded together behind herself, the bright lights behind her from the amusement park casting long shadows across her body, "The castle is certainly big enough to have kept me preoccupied for a whole life time, though sometimes I had wished I would be permitted to just see a glimpse of what's beyond the silver gates of the castle..."

"But how can that be fun?" Yusuke said, "I mean being cooped up inside of a castle all the time...Not exactly much to do except count cobwebs right?"

Yuki giggled, "My father was a kindly man and I didn't think disobeying him would be a good idea. I didn't want to make life harder on him than it already was. Besides, what could I have possibly have wanted outside of the castle? You humans are kind of strange, aren't you? Always curious and yearning for something more. Now come on, let's go!" Yuki twisted back around and ran down the street.

"How about your freedom?" Yusuke inquired, but Yuki didn't here his comment.

"She's a puzzle, isn't she?" Kurama commented to him and Kuwabara, "I can't quite seem to understand her motives...Her attitude seems to flit back and forth between serious and cheerful, never staying one for too long, as if she herself cannot quite decide which she should be. Perhaps she is a mystery even to herself, just trying to fit all the pieces into the right place."

"My question is..." Yusuke said, "Which _is_ the real her?"

"Hn, while you fools are here discussing philosophy," Hiei was suddenly standing with them.

"Hiei!" Yusuke shouted in surprise, "When...did you...get here? Where've you been?"

"Yeah, don't just sneak up on us like that!" Kuwabara complained.

"You fools better watch your precious charge closely." Hiei warned, "Be on your guards tonight."

"Yes," Kurama agreed, "I suspect that the demons we fought the night before have somehow followed us here."

"You thought that and you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't want to make you nervous for nothing." Kurama explained, "But night has fallen, and the shadows have grown long."

"Then what're we standing around here for?!" Yusuke put in. He charged ahead, running as fast as he could to catch up to their charge, "Yuki! Wait a minute!"

"Yes, Yusuke?" Yuki turned back to him, wondering what in the world it could be.

"Uh um, nothing." Yusuke replied. "I was just wondering if you'd like to go on a roller coaster? It's that big snake thing you thought was eating people before."

"Um, sure I guess." Yuki agreed. As Hiei disappeared once more into the shadows, Kuwabara and Kurama quickly followed after Yusuke and Yuki into the amusement park. They spent hours running up and down the park, making sure that Yuki got to take part of every kind of ride. Soon, however, they had become hungry and decided to stop and eat for a while.

"See, hot dogs are great if you put ketchup on em." Yusuke said in a teacherish sort of way.

"Nuh uh! They taste best with mustard and horse radish!" Kuwabara argued.

"Ketchup!"

"Mustard!"

Yuki smiled, "Why don't I put one on one half and the other on the second? I'll get it from the concession stand myself. What do they look like?"

"Ketchup is usually in a red package." Kurama said, "And mustard is in yellow."

"Okay, that should be easy enough to find." Yuki stood from her seat at the table she was sharing with the three boys and ran to the stand that was brightly lit because it was night, creating dark shadows, however, on the sides of the stand. She began to search the boxes of condiments on the side of the concession stand for these things that Yusuke and Kuwabara called "Ketchup" and "Mustard". Yuki paused for a moment, feeling the presence of another, but shook it off with a smile. "Ah, here they are." Yuki said, pulling the condiments out. She paused again before running back, saying, "You know, Hiei, I am a demon as well. It's not fun hiding in the shadows all the time, away from your team members. I'm sure that your friends wouldn't mind it if you joined us. I'm sure **_I_** wouldn't mind if you came along with us." She didn't bother glancing in his direction, knowing he wouldn't like that, and decided to just go back to her seat.

Hiei's red eyes shined through the darkness, staring at the group who were eating hot dogs, cotton candy, and funnel cake. Yet again, she had surprised him. Demon or not, he didn't think that a soft, pampered, well groomed princess like she would be able to sense him. But maybe...Just maybe she was right. If he just said that he wanted to join in, they would let him, would they not? Yuki shot him a glance and he quickly looked away; who was he kidding?! Why would he even want to, just because of some stupid demon princess suggesting it?! Yes...Why would he?

Hiei's eyes grew wide, sensing the approach of something very large. Moving swiftly, Hiei made it to the back of the amusement park where none of the rides or people were. He now faced a group of five powerful demons. They were not the lowly poisonous lizard demons from the day before. These were much stronger than those, though Hiei couldn't say they were any better looking.

"Well, what do we have here?" One demon said, "Just one of you?"

"I'm all that's needed for the likes of you!" Hiei drew his sword, charging forward as the five demons readied themselves to pile drive the fire demon. Somewhere in the amusement park, Yuki and the boys were out having fun, blissfully unaware of the impending danger Hiei now faced, completely alone.

_**To Be Continued...

* * *

**_

Okay so yeah here's the second chapter ^-^ So, who is it that Hiei's facing off alone? Will the others realize in time to come help? Keep reading to find out!!!


	3. The Others

Yu Yu Hakusho_**  
A Diamond's Heart**_

Chapter Three  
The Others

"What's that?" Yuki asked, pointing to a fun house.

"Oh that's a fun house." Yusuke replied, "There's some really creepy stuff in there, but it's a fun experience still. Wanna go in?"

She nodded, "Humans...Enjoy this sort of recreational thing, yes?"

"Yeah." Kuwabara said, "But there're some that are just completely insane..."

"I'm not so sure I'd want to go in there then..." Yuki frowned. "Let's go somewhere else?"

"How about this one." Kurama beckoned towards a tall chairlift as it rushed upwards, spinning its riders around and around, "It's not exactly as exciting as roller coasters and fun houses are, but i here that the view is quite good from up there."

"Great idea, Kurama." Kuwabara said and they made their way towards the large spinning mechanism, "I love that one!"

"Come on," Yusuke seized her hand and pulled her off towards the ride.

"Hey wait for me!" Kuwabara ran after them.

"I shall watch from the ground over there." Kurama pointed towards the side, "Have fun in the air."

"What, you're not coming with us?"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights." Yusuke grinned at him.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Yuki took one hand of each and pulled them to the line as Kurama took his place next to the silver gate surrounding the enclosed ride.

Yusuke and Kuwabara helped Yuki into one of the suspended swings before choosing swings of their own nearby. A man came and checked to make sure they were all strapped and encaged in correctly and then went to the engine that powered the lift. He pressed a button and pulled a lever, and the lift began to rise into the air and the top-like thing at the top of the lift began to spin. The swings began to turn faster and faster, spinning them higher and higher. Yuki laughed, throwing her hands into the air and shouting explitives like "Wheeee!" and "Yahoo!!"

"Heh heh heh." Yusuke chuckled, "You know it's not so bad hanging out with you, Yuki! Keiko would've been all like 'Yusuke, no way, it's too dangerous and scary!' But not you, ha ha ha!"

"Yeah, you're just like one of the guys." Kuwabara grinned.

"She even liked playing pachinko! Maybe we should go there more often!"

Yuki laughed but she wasn't really paying much attention to what it was the two were talking about. Her eyes were glued to the ground as they spun in circles, looking for a certain red head. When she spotted him her expressive blue eyes lit up at once. She leaned over the side of her swing and began to wave at him, "Hey! Kurama!"

He smiled and waved back, albeit with not as much vigor and enthusiasm as she. For awhile Yuki looked back and forth between the starlit sky and Kurama as they passed by. She noticed when, with a very grim and serious expression, he looked in a completely different direction. She observed him a bit and decided that something was wrong. She looked in the direction he was looking in, or at least whenever she could, and began to feel a strange energy coming from that same direction.

Yuki's brow furrowed when she saw something bright crossing through the sky. As the strange light came closer, Yuki suddenly realized that it was a burst of flame charging straight at her! Instinctively, the tips of her pointer fingers touched as they began to glow blue. Her fingers moved apart as the moved up in a rounded sort of way, carving in mid air a huge blue circle. The insides of the circle filled in with ice. The flames struck her ice shield with a crashing sound, people on the swings as well as down below screaming in fright. Although the shield was able to protect Yuki from most of the flames, it could not prevent the chairlift from catching fire. The conductor of the chairlift immediately pressed the emergency stop button and the machine began to stop. The flames consumed the chair she sat upon as well as the metal wire holding it up. Yuki gasped in fear as she felt the chair beneath her plummet downwards as the wire snapped in two and let out cry as the fire began to lick at her skin. Her hands grabbed the bar trapping her to the burning metal seat and as ice froze the molecules of the metal she was able to tear it away, but it was too late; gravity had done its job and now she would fall to the earth below! Yuki reached up, but it was of no use, for the other end of the metal rope was too far out of her reach.

"Yuki!" Her arm felt an abrupt pull that, if she weren't a demon, would've dislocated her shoulder. Yuki opened her eyes, which she had closed out of fright, and looked up. Hiei was holding onto the other end of the metal wire, though it was still burning, and had seized her hand with the other.

"Hiei!" Yuki said, feeling relief wash over herself.

Hiei let go of the metal rope while at the same time pulling Yuki up to him. He caught her in midair bridal style and easily landed on the ground below. The riders of the chairlift scrambled to get off the burning machine as they and everyone below it screamed, running away. Hiei set Yuki down as Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara gathered around them.

"Yuki, are you okay?" Yusuke questioned urgently, seizing her shoulders in concern.

"I'm fine, Yusuke, really I am." Yuki replied, confused why he was acting this way.

More fire struck the machine crackling behind them, followed by a beam of yellow energy. The group dodged the general debris and then searched around for the people who had sent the fire and energy. "Where?" Kurama said, "Where is it coming from?"

"I managed to only defeat one out of five of them." Hiei said, "Direct your eyes to your right. They'll be coming from that way. I'll go first." He disappeared in a blur of black as usual, no doubt charging back to fight.

"Come, we must fight." Kurama stated, readying himself to follow Hiei.

"Wait, Kurama!" Yuki seized his arm, her eyes giving him a pleading look, "I can fight too. Please, tell me, what is happening?"

"There are demons here." Kurama said reluctantly, "And in order to preserve your safety, we must fight them, alone."

"This is because of me, isn't it?" Yuki gave him a firm look, "I'm not as weak as all of you seem to think I am. Let me fight too."

"No." Kurama replied firmly, directing his emerald eyes to the girl clinging to his arm, "I don't doubt your ability to defend yourself, but you asked us to protect you, Yuki. Please allow us to do our job properly."

"But - "

Kurama shook his head, silencing her. He looked into her eyes again, "You were born into this sort of life. As one of the royals amongst the few in Makai, your life will always be valued above those around you. Your safety and ability to continue on in life matters most, now. But above all else that I have said tonight, Yuki, you must remember, _**you**_ are a princess."

Yuki's arms slipped away from Kurama's as she stared up at him, frozen by his words. Is this how her life was going to be? She asked herself. Would she always be so useless?

"Kuwabara, take her to safety." Yusuke said, "We'll go assist old three eyes."

"What?! Oh...Alright." Kuwabara agreed. He nodded and gave them a sure smirk, "But don't forget to kick some ass for me!"

Yusuke smirked back and gave him a thumbs up, "Naturally."

"Now come on, Yuki." Kuwabara said, taking her wrist in hand, "We can't stay here much longer; it's not safe."

"But, I..." Yuki tried to protest.

"Yusuke ain't that bright himself, but Kurama's usually smart about this kind of stuff. You don't have to worry. They'll be okay. Besides you've got me, Kazuma Kuwabara to protect you! You'll be safe, so you don't have to be scared."

"I'm not scared..." Yuki said as Kuwabara pulled her towards the exit of the amusement park, looking back over her shoulder as Hiei cut the arm off of a demon and Yusuke blasted the other off, Kurama dealing the finishing blow, "At least...Not for myself..."

* * *

Yuki silently and obediently followed Kuwabara into the bus that Kuwabara had bought tickets for them to ride. The seats faced inwards so that you could sit across a companion and talk as well as beside each other. Yuki sat by the window, Kuwabara sitting across from her, and she stared out of it as the bus started up. Am I really so useless? Yuki continued to question herself, her turmoil only being expressed in her eyes. Can I not at least assist in guarding my own safety? How can this be?

"Hey, um Yuki," Kuwabara interrupted her thoughts, "We're going up into the mountains for now. There's a temple up there that I know you'd be safe at." Her only answer was a small nod, clutching her dress tightly as she looked at her whitening knuckles. "Hey, are yo okay?"

"Kuwabara?" She spoke quietly, "Can I...Ask you a question? Have you ever felt like you were useless? Like it didn't matter what you did because it wouldn't make a difference? Have you ever felt like every one else around you knew exactly what you were supposed to be doing, but you were the only one left out?"

"If you ask me I'd say that's alot more than just one question." Kuwabara joked, but seeing how serious her expression was, cleared his throat and decided to answer in a different way, "To tell you the truth, yeah, I have before. I guess you could say it's something that Urameshi and I had in common a little while back. Heh, we were just a couple of punks pretending to be junior high students. We...weren't like anyone from our school. Unlike them, it took us a long time to finally realize that our lives meant a lot more than we gave ourselves credit for."

"What...changed?"

"Yusuke died." Kuwabara said bluntly, "But he was given a second chance, and we became friends and Spirit Detectives. Although the ride hasn't always been a very fun one, but it was worth it, and neither of us is backing out of it now. If there's one thing I've learned, life can be full of a bunch of crap sometimes, but you might as well stick around, because someday you'll figure it all out."

Yuki shook her head, "My situation is very different from yours...Unlike you and Yusuke, the course of my life has already been decided from the start. But my life...My life means nothing to me, and no one will mourn the death of a wothless princess." Her knuckles tightened even more as she almost doubled over, a tear striking her hand, "Those soldiers...my guards...They gave their lives for me...For me, of all people. How is it that I matter so much more than others? I, who can't even protect myself?! I'm just so useless!"

"As far as I'm concerned, you're not useless." Kuwabara said firmly, "I know we don't really know each other right now, but I know you're not. Just trust me on this one, okay? I usually have sixth sense about these things. Now come on," Kuwabar gently wiped the tears that had not fallen yet from her eyes, "I've got some very special friends for you to meet, and I don't want you to look all teary eyed the first time you see em." Kuwabara gave her a lopside grin and helped her out of her seat as the bus came to a halt. They exited and were met by the sight of a tall, winding route of stairs up the rest of the mountain. "It's this way." Kuwabara beckoned towards the stairs.

Yuki nodded and followed him up the steps. The walk was long and almost tiresome, but the quiet of the forest was calming, and Yuki regained the self control she had had back in Makai. 'I must have forgotten myself.' Yuki thought, 'Acting all weird and stupid...'

"Kazuma!" A sweet voice broke into her thoughts. Looking up, she realized that a girl dressed in a blue kimono rushing towards them. "Kazuma, what're you doing here?" Yukina asked.

"Oh I'm never too busy to visit you." Kuwabara blushed.

Yuki breathed in a surprised breath, "A...koorime..." She said softly to herself.

"Oh?" Yukina looked towards her, "And who are you?"

"I am called Yuki now." She said, "It's nice to meet you."

"Kazuma, is she a friend of yours?" Yukina asked.

"Well...ugh...you know you're the only one for me, baby!" Kuwabara stated.

"He's my bodyguard." Yuki said, "Don't worry about a thing, though. Kuwabara has been very noble." Yuki smiled at the her.

"I see." Yukina nodded, "Well I'm sure you didn't walk all the way up here for nothing? I'll go get Genkai. Please, come in!"

"Thank you." Yuki bowed to her, "That's very generous of you." Yukina turned and went back in through the temple gates.

"Hey thanks for the compliments and all but I haven't really been guarding you that long." Kuwabara said, "So what's with all that stuff you said?"

Yuki put a hand in front of her mouth to try to hide her laugh but it was no use; she burst into a fit of giggles as she said, "Aw isn't that cute! You're sweet on her, aren't you!"

Kuwabara looked nervous and quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, "Sssh!! She'll hear you!"

"That's okay," Yuki winked at him, "I won't tell a soul, as long as you don't tell her who I am."

"Good! But, hey, why don't you want her to know who you are?" Kuwabara asked as they walked in through the temple gates.

"She's a koorime, isn't she?"

"Yeah? So?" Yuki stopped abruptly. Kuwabara nearly crashed into her, but managaed to step to the side in time. "What? Why'd you stop?"

Yuki turned back around, looking him dead in the face, "Look, I'm serious, Kuwabara. Even though officially the Koorime are no longer associated with the Snow Kingdom, under the table we are still affiliated. Just because you and the other three boys know that I am a princess does not mean I want every one else around us knowing as well. In my present state she won't even recognize that I am a demon let alone the princess of Snow Kingdom; I'd like to keep it that way."

"Come on, Yuki." Kuwabara said, "You're a princess, and by your attitude I'd guess you're a pretty damn good one too. What're you so ashamed of?"

"I just...want to be normal for a while, Kuwabara." Yuki replied.

* * *

Kurama lashed out with his Rose Whip at the large demon who looked like an inflated toad. However, the demon jumped back at the last moment. It spun back around and tried to hit him with it's outstretched tongue. Kurama was quick however and was able to evade it's attacks. "He's quick," Kurama said.

"Yeah, well let's see him dodge this!" Yusuke said, getting ready to shoot his Spirit Gun.

"Let's not be hasty." Kurama stopped him, "There are still innocent bystanders here, and we don't know who our opponents are just yet."

"Who cares." Hiei said as he rushed by, "Kill them all!" Hiei drew his sword and cut the demons arm off, blood spraying everywhere. He moved in to stab it through the head, but the toad demon used its powerful hindlegs and jumped away.

Kurama lashed out at an oncoming demon and its arms and legs fell of. While it writhed on the floor, Hiei rushed over and stabbed it through the head. Yusuke ran by, throwing punch after punch at one of the remaining demon. This demon was as quick as the one Hiei and Kurama had dealt with. It tried to escape being pummeled into a pulp but it was no use. Yusuke quickened his motions, swiftly beating the demon down to the ground. The last demon attempted to escape, but Hiei was quick and grabbed him by the back of his shirt as it scrambled to get away. Hiei pulled it roughly, throwing it onto the ground next to its only remaining companion.

"Alright, start talking." Yusuke said as the three gathered around the two.

The demon he'd beaten whimpered in fear, "Anything! I'll tell you anything!"

Yusuke seized it by the collar of his shirt, pulling him up and showing him his fist, "Good, then we have your cooperation then. Tell me why you Prism Bandits are chasing Yuki!"

"Prism Bandits?" The demon said in confusion, "We know nothing of those marked freaks!"

"Lying huh?" Yusuke said, his eyebrow raising, "You know, I really don't like liars!" Yusuke raised his fist and slammed it into the demons face a couple of times, "Now, maybe some fresh bruises'll get you to talk."

"I assure, please, have mercy!" The demon cried, "The Prism Bandits are a most fierce group, but we thought if we could get the Snow Princess first, then we wouldn't have to worry about them! We don't have anything to do with them!!"

"Okay, let's try this one more time," Yusuke raised his fist once more, "Why are the Prism Bandits attacking Yuki?!"

"Yusuke," Kurama put a hand on his fist, stopping him, "It appears that we were mistaken. If these demons are not involved with the Prism Bandits, then no amount of beating will get us the information we want."

"Yeah, but how do we know that these guys are telling the truth?" Yusuke asked.

"Let me try," Kurama said. He looked sternly at the demon with his fierce emerald eyes. The demon shivered and whimpered, cowering in fear, "Tell me, if you are not one of the Prism Bandits then why are you after Lady Hyousetsu?"

"I-in the Black Market," The demon stuttered, "There's a nice p-prize offer for the Snow Princess nowadays. They didn't tell us why, and the only condition is that she's got to be able to speak. W-We...We just wanted the prize! It's nothing personal!"

"And the Prism Bandits?"

"I guess they heard about the prize offer too! A lot of the other demons dropped out cuz they found out the Prism Bandits were in the run for it, but we figured if we got her first the Bandits couldn't do anything!"

"And these Prism Bandits." Kurama said firmly, "How many are there? And is there anyway to identify them?"

"No one knows how many there are; there's just no way to tell! But each member is tattooed with a seven sided shape, each side colored a color of the rainbow."

"I see..." Kurama said thoughtfully.

The other demon suddenly started to laugh, as if he had gone crazy. Yusuke dropped the one they'd been talking to and seized the one snickering from the floor, "And what's so funny?!"

"You really have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into, have you?" The demon asked, "Do you have any idea how valuable that princess is? More than a hundred demons, strong and weak, all after the same prize, the same demon girl." The demon burst into another fit of maniacal laughter, writhing in Yusuke's grasp, "You Spirit Detectives will have your heads on spikes when they're all through with you!"

"Do you want me to punch your faces in?!" Yusuke growled.

"Heh heh heh, go ahead." The demon said darkly, "You're too late."

The three boys looked upon him in shock. Kurama's emerald eyes were large in confusion, "Too late...for what?"

"You didn't really think we was all there was did ya?" The demon asked. He smirked when their faces became grin, "HA HA HA!! Make all the death threats you wish! You sent your princess off, and only with a lone human! She's as good as ours!"

"Yuki." Hiei said and disappeared in a blur of black.

"Hiei, wait!" Kurama called after him, "You don't know if what he says is true!"

"Now, there is the subject of your punishment." Yusuke grinned.

"Hold on, we told you everything you wanted!" The cowardly demon said, "We...Please, let us go!"

"I'd love to, really I would, but I can't run the risk of you going after Yuki again, now can I?" Yusuke dealt him with a strong blow. He proceeded to beat the two remaining demons into oblivion.

"Yusuke, we haven't got time for that now." Kurama interrupted him, "If what this demon says is true, then Kuwabara and Yuki may very well be in trouble."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that." Yusuke nodded, "But we don't even know where Kuwabara took her, so how are we supposed to help him if we don't know where they are? Where do you think they could've gone?"

"Hm..." Kurama pondered, "There's no way he could've gotten into Spirit World without Botan or Koenma's assistance, so that's out of the question. You don't suppose he'd be absentminded enough to bring her to his house do you?!"

"Nah, then he'd have to explain to Shizuru who the heck Yuki is." Yusuke answered.

"Then where?"

"The mountains!" Yusuke shouted, "He'd bring her to Genkai's, wouldn't he?"

"Then let's not waste time here!"

* * *

"I figured that, since I'm going to pretend to be a human, I might as well enjoy it while it lasts." Yuki continued from where she left off, "Not just a human...but a normal person. That means I don't have to worry about what I eat because no one knows what I am. I don't always have to dress in big stuffy dresses, and I don't always have to carry myself with such high standards! I want to be treated just like everyone else."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good reason..." Kuwabara scratched his head.

"Kuwabara, Yukina has informed me that you have brought a friend here." Genkai spoke as she exited her home into the courtyard they stood in.

"Yeah, this is Yuki." Kuwabara beckoned towards her, "For reasons I can't really say right now, we have to protect her."

The old woman's eyes settled upon Yuki as she came out from behind the taller, buffer Kuwabara. Her eyes scanned her up and down and then shot back to Kuwabara, "She's a demon, but you know this already don't you? Why Reikai is protecting a demon is beyond me, but if that's the case then I might as well let you in. Does Yukina know?"

"Thank you, and if you're asking if she knows that I am demon, the answer is no. Actually, I'm quite boggled as to how you figured me out so quickly." Yuki bowed to her out of respect and then followed her into the feudal era styled home. "Forgive me asking, but you wouldn't happen to be the old Psychic Genkai, would you?"

"Surprised I'm still alive, are you?" She replied sarcastically.

"Not at all." Yuki said almost in awe, "It's just that not many demon get to meet you and live to tell about it. But I hope that I will be one of those demons." Genkai didn't say a word, only smirking at her.

"I hope you like tea." Yukina said as they entered the house. She was sitting with her legs beneath her at a floor table, pouring tea into small cups. "It's nice and hot, so you should drink it before it becomes too cold."

Yuki sat with her legs beneath her on a soft mat, right across from Yukina. Smiling, Yukina set a cup down in front of her. "Thanks," Yuki began to sip the hot beverage, smelling the steam rising from the cup and felt the calming effects tea had.

"There is something serious I need to discuss with you." Kuwabara said. Genkai nodded and they left the room to discuss things in the outside hallway, Genkai sliding the paper door behind them.

"Alright, boy, what's this about?" Genkai questioned.

"Well like I said, we're supposed to be protecting her. The reason why we came here so late tonight is because some demons who are after her found us in the amusement park today. I'm telling you this because there's a good chance that others might be coming, and we need a safe place to hide her for tonight while Urameshi and the others clear up those demons."

"I can assure you she will be safe here." Genkai nodded.

Back in the other room, Yukina and Yuki were making small talk as they waited for Genkai and Kuwabara to return. "So, how long have you been living here in Ningenkai?" Yuki asked.

"Oh not very long." Yukina replied, "Just a few months I suppose. How long have you known Kazuma?"

"I just met him and the other Spirit Detectives yesterday."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy staying here. They are very kind."

"Yeah, they really are." She looked towards where Kuwabara had left, "And in a way, I'll never be able to repay them for everything that they're doing for me." Yuki's eyes grew wide, sensing something large and powerful shooting towards them. "Look out!" She shouted, diving across the table and pushing Yukina down to the ground as an explosion of energy crashed through the paper door. Yuki grabbed the pot of tea and threw its contents over the burning paper door. She then tore it down and threw it into the courtyard, where it lay smoldering and smoking. Yuki sighed in relief, "At least the house won't burn down now. But what was that?"

"Yukina!" Kuwabara shouted, but he was forced back by yet another blast of energy. "What the heck was that?!" Out of the darkened trees beyond the gates came a group of demons. Several attacked Genkai, forcing her to move and jump away. Kuwabara lunged at a pair before him, slashing with his Spirit Sword. The demons dodged easily, running to the right. Kuwabara followed them out of the two demon girls' view, unaware that they were only being led away

"Yukina, are you okay?" Yuki turned towards the girl as she pushed some debris off of herself.

"Yes, I'm fine." Yukina's face became riddled with fright, "Behind you!"

A burst of heat was felt behind Yuki as what seemed like the entire courtyard lit up with light. Yuki quickly turned, in time to see what looked like arrows of fire being shot towards them. Yuki responded by using her abilities as an ice apparition. Her eyes began to glow as she forced the air around her to drop in temperature, creating a cloud of ice shards and frozen droplets of water. Maneuvering with her hands, she made the cloud of ice rush forward, hoping it would stop the fire before it got any closer. The fire burned straight through the ice, however, continuing on forwards. Yuki moved till she was in front of the house, but even there she could already feel the heat from the fire. Using the same technique she had at the amusement park, she touched the tips of her pointer fingers together and drew a circle upwards, only larger, and the shield filled with ice. The arrows of fire crashed headlong into the shield of ice, and Yuki held her hand, palms forward, levitating the shield in front to hold back the fire. She struggled to keep the shield up as more fire was sent her way, pushing with all her might against it. Soon, the fire was coming in a continuous stream and began to heat the shield, and Yuki uttered a small cry of pain when her hands began to burn. Yuki fed her hands more of her energy, bolstering the defense of her ice shield, but her hands continued to cinder.

"Give it up, princess!" A gruff voice came to her ears, "You're ice; I'm fire. So what does that tell you? It would just be easier on you if you came quietly!"

"Why does everyone assume that because I am who I am I have to be afraid?!" Yuki shouted, enraged, "Is fire the only thing you've got in your arsenal? Big mistake!" Yuki looked about the courtyard and her eyes fell upon a well. Moving one hand away from her shield, she swept it across the well. The water within it rushed up and burst out, flooding the courtyard and striking the demon causing the flames. The courtyard exploded with steam, causing their clothes to stick to their bodies almost immediately. The hot air was hard to breathe and the steam concealed the locations of both Yuki and her attacker. She looked about herself as her shield disappeared, searching for the demon. "Where is he?" Yuki asked herself. It didn't take long for the steam to rise as the colder air above it sank beneath the cloud, but it was already too late.

"Heh heh heh," The demon snickered as he held a dagger to Yukina's throat, "Why don't you turn around, Lady Hyousetsu."

Yukina gave Yuki a shocked look, her red eyes growing wide. She looked upon Yuki with a reverence that frightened her out of her wits. "Lady...Hyousetsu...?"

"It's not what you think, Yukina." Yuki said quickly, trying to repair the damage a simple utterance of her name had caused.

"Oh it's exactly what you think." The demon told Yukina, smirking. He grabbed her chin with his hand and forced Yukina to look directly at Yuki, "See that positively_ human _looking girl? She even feels like one too don't she?"

"Shut up!" Yuki shouted.

'No, it's my secret!' Yuki's mind screamed.

_'Don't worry, it will be safe.'_ Another voice spoke in her head.

'What?' Yuki questioned, 'Who's there?'

Yuki's questioned went unanswered, however. In a flash, the demon holding Yukina captive suddenly disappeared, the dagger dropping with a clatter to the floor. Sighing in relief, Yukina immediately sat down on the wooden outdoor hallway floor. Yuki stared at her in disbelief, her mind not comprehending what had just happened. "Wh-where...did he go?" She asked.

"Yuki, your hands!" Yukina brought her back inside, despite the fact that the door was gone, and examined her damaged appendages. "Look at all these burns...They must hurt terribly; they look awful."

"They're okay." Yuki lied. Yukina ran a finger lightly over one and she winced from the pain as the charred flesh began to bleed. "Okay, so maybe they're not that okay."

Yukina giggled, "See? Let me heal them for you." Yukina's hands lit up with a warm sort of energy and it flooded into Yuki's hands; the flesh began come back together.  
"Aren't you at all bothered by the fact that you could've died?" Yuki inquired. "We don't know what happened to that demon!"

"There's no point in worrying about it now." Yukina replied, "That demon's energy has completely disappeared now, and besides I think it's more important to worry about a friend than an enemy."

"You're not at all like the other demons. You seem...Much kinder."

"You speak as if you knew much about the world of the demons." Yukina's eyes looked into Yuki's and they became pleading, "Are you...Really Lady Hyousetsu? The Princess of Snow Kingdom?"

"Wh-where'd you get that idea from?" She said, laughing nervously.

"That demon back there, he called you Lady Hyousetsu! Please, if you are, then tell me!"

"No no no, it's not like that." Yuki denied, "Hyousetsu's just...a name I used to be called. That doesn't mean I'm some sort of princess or anything. Besides, I'm a human, remember? I couldn't possibly be the person you're thinking of...I'm just a human who's had a lot of exposure to that side of the world."

"I see...I could've sworn...! But still...The technique that you used, I still cannot define it. It seemed indefinitely demonic, yet your spirit energy is not. What kind of energy do you use exactly?"

"Ha! You're asking me? Even I don't know anymore."

"Are you girls alright?" Genkai asked as she and Kuwabara came into the room, "I'm not sure what exactly those idiots were thinking, but anyway they're gone now. Yukina, Kuwabara has some burns that you should probably attend to."

"Oh, yes of course!" Yukina said, standing up running down the hallway to find him.

Genkai sighed as she sat down on the mat, "It seems that my house will need quite a bit of reconstruction."

"I'm so sorry about that." Yuki blushed, "The door...It caught fire from the attack and I just...tore it down...I'll be happy to fix it though!"

"That's quite alright, I'll fix it properly later myself. So, why wasn't the dimwit with you?"

"Um...The dimwit?"

"Yusuke." Genkai said simply.

"I'm right here you old hag!" Yusuke shouted as he and Kurama ran through the gates, panting from having ran the whole way up the mountain, "Yuki, are you okay?" The girl nodded at him and he rounded upon the elder, "I don't appreciate you makin me look bad in front of guests!!"

"Hn, dimwit."

"Where is Kuwabara?" Kurama questioned, "And Hiei?"

"Kuwabara's getting healed at present by Yukina." Yuki said, "But...I didn't see Hiei at all. Was he supposed to be here?"

"Damn, I thought for sure he'd've come here..." Yusuke said, "Oh well, he'll be okay. If I know him, he can take care of himself."

"Hey, Urameshi" Kuwabara shouted, running into the courtyard followd by Yukina, "You're late! Me and Genkai had to take care of those demons by ourselves! I thought you were going to hold them there in the amusement park!"

"We did! But it turns out there were more of them waiting for Yuki to leave. That reminds me!" Yusuke round on Yuki, "Why didn't you tell us that we weren't just defending you from the Prism Bandits?"

"I assumed you knew." Yuki said, staring at the blankly, "Koenma...Didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what? That you're on the Black Market's very own most wanted list?!" Yusuke replied almost angrily, "Yeah, that would've been a great help! And here I was thinking we'd just have to deal with some measily kidnappers, and not all the demons in Makai! I'm gonna kill Koenma!"

"What, you mean there's more?!" Kuwabara complained.

"I've had assassins and kidnappers following me everywhere since I was a small child." Yuki said, looking away from them, "I'll tell you now, since Koenma didn't. This job is obviously more dangerous than you thought it was, and if you have any doubts about this then I suggest you give up right now. Not even for the Spirit Detectives, they won't stop. I'd understand it if you didn't want to protect me anymore."

"Now hold on that's not what I said. I was just...you know, angry. Don't worry, you'll be safe with us, I promise." Yusuke said, much to Yuki's surprise.

"Perhaps we should regroup and discuss this more tomorrow." Kurama suggested, "We're all very tired tonight. Come Yuki, I'll bring you to my home."

Yuki nodded and followed Kurama. The two said their goodbyes to the others and descended down the mountain steps. Yuki was exceedingly quiet on the way down and the way back on the bus into the city. She trailed behind Kurama as he walked her to his house.

"You know, I think the idea of asking someone to protect you is to allow them to do so." Kurama stopped and waited for Yuki to catch up.

"Hm?" Yuki looked up at the older looking boy.

"It's okay to let your guard down every now and then." He continued, "We will make sure you're safe. After all, Yusuke did just promise that. It's okay to lean on others for support."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yuki looked away, knowing her eyes would give her away.

"Don't look away." Kurama said, the tone of his voice making her look up again, "The years of loneliness cannot escape your eyes, but it is not the pain that comes from that loneliness that hurts the most. It's the wall of distrust one builds around themselves. You and 'He' have something in common. But even he has started to realize something. Neither of you are alone." Kurama beckoned upwards and Yuki's eyes followed his train of thoughts. They landed upon Hiei, who was watching from a nearby rooftop. When he realized the two had spotted him, he disappeared into the night once more. "Let's head home now, shall we?"

Kurama and Yuki continued towards their house, another turn at the corner would bring them to the street it was on. Once again silence fell over them, but Yuki was not so sullen. Rather, she was searching for something to say, a reply to what the wise boy had just said. "I'm sorry, Kurama..." Yuki whispered as they entered the front yard of his home.

"Whatever for, Yuki?"

"For attacking you the first day we met, and for all the trouble I've caused since then."

"Nonsense." Kurama chuckled, "My mother truly will love you. Remember, I'm called Shuichi in Ningenkai. Yuki, are you ready to meet my mother?"

_**To Be Continued...

* * *

**_

Wow I'm already at Chapter Three!! Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!! What will happen when Yuki meets Kurama's mother, and at her first day of school? Will things every quiet down for them during this case?! And who saved Yukina?


	4. The Crystal Dagger

Yu Yu Hakusho_**  
A Diamond's Heart**_

Chapter Four  
The Crystal Dagger

Kurama pulled a keychain out of his pocket and unlocked the front door to his home. Yuki quickly noted that the light inside the living room was on and someone was definitely inside. She followed Kurama inside and into the living room, where a woman who looked in her forties was asleep on the couch, her black hair spilling over her shoulder.

"Mother," Kurama spoke softly, "What are you doing sleeping on the couch?"

"Oh, Shuichi, you're home." Shiori said, "I was waiting for you and the foreign exchange student to come home, but you stayed out for much longer than I originally thought."

"I'm sorry mother. We'll be sure to return home sooner next time. I'd like you to meet Yuki Inoue, the, um, foreign exchange student."

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Minamino." Yuki said, smiling as she held her hand out.

"Oh, what a lovely girl you are. Shuichi tells me that you're from Taiwan," Shiori stood to shake hands with her, "But your Japanese is so fluent."

"Ah, um well, I was in my school's advanced Japanese class." Yuki said nervously.

"I see, dear." Shiori smiled, "The two of you must be starving. I made you some food on the stove. Won't you eat?"

"Yes mother, but only if you go to bed first." Kurama smiled at her.

"Well then will you show her to the spare bedroom? I've set it up already. Don't forget to tell her where the bathroom is. I've laid out a towel for you to use for your bath on your bed as well."

"Of course, Mother."

"Thank you very much, Ms. Minamino."

"Alright then, good night. Don't go to bed too late; you have school tomorrow. Oh and Yuki, I noticed you didn't bring any bags with you. Do you not have any clothes? When you get home tomorrow we'll be sure to go shopping."

"Oh, um, I'm fine." Yuki said quickly, "Really…It's not necessary! I haven't any money to buy any clothes."

"That's alright dear. Everyone needs fresh clothes. Well, good night you two."

"Your mother is very kind, isn't she?" Yuki said, when she was gone, "After all, she must be if she is willing to allow a complete stranger into her home and to offer to buy me clothes."

Kurama smiled at her comments and led her to the kitchen. He sat her down at the small dining table and went to the rice cooker. He scooped them bowls of rice and got the food off the stove his mother had prepared for them. After quickly eating, Kurama led her upstairs. They passed by his mother's room, taking extra care to be quiet, and then further down the hallway. There was, of course, the bathroom, and then he showed her to her room. Shiori had apparently gone shopping, for on the door leading to Yuki's bedroom was a plack with white flowers on it with the word "Yuki" clearly engraved on it. Under it was a note saying "Welcome". Kurama opened the door for her and she stepped into her room and felt a strange warmth rush over her. "It isn't much, but at least you'll have a place to sleep and rest."

"No…" Yuki shook her head as she walked into her room, "It's…my room. Thank you, Kurama, thank you so much."

Kurama smiled, "I'll let you borrow some of my school supplies for class tomorrow, and then we'll buy you some later. Good night, Yuki."

* * *

The next morning Yuki was awakened by none other than Shiori, who reminded her that school in Japan started quite early and that she would need to get a uniform, which is when it hit her. Wasn't she supposed to be going to a different school than Kurama?! While Shiori cooked some eggs over the stove, Yuki whispered to Kurama, "Hey, Kurama? Aren't I supposed to go to a different school than you? Won't our uniforms be different?"

"I told my mother that you're in a different grade than I*, so naturally your uniform would be a different color and in a different style."

"But you didn't tell her we're going to different schools?"

"She didn't ask about it." Kurama replied smoothly. "Although I suppose that would've been useful, since Yusuke and Kuwabara's school doesn't start this early."

"What?!" Yuki complained, "You mean I could still be sleeping now?"

Kurama chuckled to himself. "Ah well, I still have to show you to the school you'll be attending, don't I? We'd better hurry!"

"Kur - I mean Shuichi, that's not funny!" She followed the demon fox out of the house.

"Wait! Don't forget your lunches." Shiori stopped them in the front yard and handed them each a bento wrapped in different colored cloths. Kurama's was a red one and Yuki's was blue. "Have a nice day at school!" They waved goodbye and started down the street.

"If you ever need me, my school is that way." Kurama pointed to the building down the street to their left, "Your school is this way."

Yuki followed Kurama down a few more blocks and noticed him glancing down at his watch. "Kurama? Are you going to be late to school?"

"Oh, it's fine." Kurama said, "I am pressed for time, but if I run back I'll be able to make it."

"No, I'll be able to find my way to the school." Yuki said, "Just tell me the generally directions."

Kurama nodded, "Down one more block and turn to your right. You'll see the gates that surround the entire school grounds, but the entrance won't be till another block down. Yusuke and Kuwabara should be waiting for you at the entrance to bring you to get your school uniform. You should already be enrolled in the school. Your classes will start around half an hour."

"Okay, thank you Kurama." Yuki said, running down the street.

"Good luck at your new school!" Kurama returned before going back to his own school.

* * *

Yuki continued down the street, making her way around using the directions Kurama had given her. She soon found herself in front of the school. Though classes wouldn't start for another half an hour, students had already gathered in the school courtyard. Yusuke and Kuwabara, however, were nowhere to be found. Yuki shrugged; the two didn't strike her as being early students anyway. She decided to lean against the gate outside and wait for the two till the bell rang. A half an hour dragged by and still no sign of the two boys. The courtyard was pretty full now and the bell was getting ready to ring soon, but Yuki still couldn't find the two.

"Figures." Yuki said, "Of all the days to be late…" She closed her eyes and decided to try and sense for them. Soon, their elevated amounts of spirit energy showed up, and not too far away either. Behind the school, completely opposite of where she was, she could feel their energy.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were indeed behind the school. Behind the school was a small unused field where they were facing off against six other boys. They were playing into their usual recreational activity: beating up thugs who came to pick a fight. The six boys didn't look exceptional in any sort of way, just your usual neighborhood thugs. Although maybe two were very large and very tall, one could tell with a glance that they were nothing but your average bullies ready to pick on some younger students, for instance like Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kuwabara counted them one by one by and said, "There's six of them, so three each."

"Alright fine." Yusuke said, "Let's see who can knock their three out the fastest without spirit energy."

"You guys got some sort of death wish or what?" One of the boys sneered, "Are you really going to take on all six of us at once?"

"Well yeah." Yusuke replied, "I mean where's the fun in pounding your faces into the ground one by one? Fighting three to one is way more fun."

The six of the boys glared, having been thoroughly insulted. "We'll just see about that!" Another boy shouted. Just as they were about to launch themselves at the two younger boys, they almost tripped over themselves when the ground tugged back at their feet. Staring down at the very bottom of their shoe, they noticed that ice had not only plastered itself to the ground underneath but had also glued them there as well.

"What the hell?"

"Ice?"

"How did that get there?"

"Excuse me for a moment, boys." Yuki said calmly as she walked straight through the middle of them, "I have to talk to those two for a second."

"Where did she come from?"

"Hey lady, we was about to have a fight you know!"

Yuki stopped walking a feet away from where she had stuck the thugs, completely ignoring them, "Guys, we don't exactly have time for this right now. The bell will ring soon."

"Yuki?" Kuwabara gave her a questioning look, "What're you doing here?"

She sighed, "Did you forget that you were supposed to bring me to get a uniform and my classroom?"

"Well we're kind of busy right now." Yusuke said, "Can't this wait?"

"It's not like I can freeze time you know." Yuki said

"No, just shoes to the ground."

"The bell won't wait for you to finish brawling with these guys."

The thugs quickly unlatched their shoes from the ground. They crowded around the girl, their large muscles making her seem smaller than she was. One of the more prominent of the group growled, "You got a lot of nerve just ignoring us like that."

"And your breath smells like alcohol." Yuki returned, "As deplorable as that may be, I would appreciate it if you and your fellow classmates could just leave us alone; we have something we must attend to now."

"Oh, you're just asking for it lady!" The shouted as they got ready to charge. Yusuke and Kuwabara watched as her blue energy ran from her feet and up into their bodies. Their faces suddenly turned blue and they fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What did you do to them?!" Kuwabara asked in both horror and fascination.

"When you lower your body temperature, your blood pressure drops." Yuki said, "If it drops too low, you lose consciousness. Don't worry though; they'll be fine. When they wake up they won't know what hit them. Now come on!"

"That's creepy!" The boy in blue shouted as they ran for the school gates.

The three of the students went first to the front office, where Yuki was given a school uniform. After quickly changing in the Nurse's Office and putting her clothes in a bag, she was informed her classroom was with Yusuke and Kuwabara. By then the morning bell had already rung, but the office had written the three a note to ensure that they wouldn't be in trouble. Keiko gave the two boys a questioning look as they entered along with Yuki, but she pretended to not notice when Yusuke looked her way. The teacher introduced her to the class and assigned her a seat next to the window, just behind Yusuke. Although class wasn't a complete disaster for Yuki, there were many things that she didn't understand, like certain parts of literature and math, but she figured she'd get the hang of it soon enough. Learning things that human children learned intrigued Yuki and before she knew it, the bell for lunch had already rung. Yusuke and Kuwabara put their desks together so they could just sit and eat.

"Hey Kuwabara, give me part of your sandwich." Yusuke said.

"No way man, get your own lunch!"

"Come on, it's not like you need the whole thing anyway!" Yusuke complained, "Just one little piece! I'm starving here."

"You can have some of mine." Yuki said, laughing, "Kurama's mother made me lunch. She's very kind." She untied the bow at the top and opened the cloth, pulling the box's top off. Her mouth watered just looking at the delicious food Shiori had prepared for her and she wondered if it were possible to be any hungrier than she was looking at it.

"Looks great." Yusuke drooled.

"It's so strange; you haven't cut any of your classes today." Keiko commented stiffly as she walked over, "Setting a good example for your new 'friend' here?"

Yusuke laughed nervously, "It's not what it looks like, Keiko."

"What does it look like? I was just saying you haven't cut classes today. Nothing else."

"It's nice to meet you." Yuki stopped her from leaving, "My name is Yuki Inoue, as the teacher told the class this morning. And you are?"

"I am Keiko Yukimura, Class Representative." She replied.

"It's so nice to meet you, Keiko. Will you join us for lunch?" Yuki asked, "There's still room, you know."

"I don't know." Keiko said, hiding her spot of envy, "I have class work to do also…"

"There's nothing to worry about, Keiko." Botan said, popping out of nowhere.

"Botan, what are you doing here?" Keiko asked.

"Just checking in on everyone." Botan grinned, "I see that you already met Yuki! I'll bet the three of us will be fast friends."

"Botan, you're in a school uniform." Yuki commented. "Do you…go to school here also?"

"No, no, don't be silly." Botan laughed, "Just blending in, that's all. How're you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Yuki smiled. "Thanks for looking after me. School here is a lot of fun."

"I'm confused." Keiko glared at Yusuke, "Are you hiding something from me? You are, aren't you, Yusuke?!"

"N-no, of course not!" Yusuke shouted.

"Hey, Botan," Yuki whispered to the blue haired girl, "Does she know about, you know, me?"

"No, not at all." She whispered back, "Keiko does know that Yusuke is a Spirit Detective, but we aren't supposed to let ordinary people know about this stuff, so keep your lips sealed."

Yuki nodded and stood from her seat, "Yusuke, you can go ahead and have my lunch. I'm going to go to the roof now. See you after lunch. Come on, Botan, let's go." Yuki seized the blue haired girl's arm and dragged her out of the classroom with her.

"Wait, don't leave me here!" He said desperately, but they were already gone.

"Yusuke, you still haven't answered me!" Keiko reminded him.

On the roof, Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. The tension in the classroom had grown very heavy very quickly, and she avoided situations like that. Besides, if Keiko were going to find out about who she was it wasn't her place to tell. Yusuke was the Spirit Detective and if he wanted to inform Keiko, then he would have to do it himself.

"Yuki, is something the matter?" Botan asked, "Why did we come out here all of a sudden?"

"No particular reason." Yuki chuckled, "I just didn't like the feeling the room suddenly had."

"We should go back now." Botan said urgently, "It's not safe out here. What if you're attacked? Both Yusuke and Kuwabara are a floor beneath us and Kurama is at his school."

"We're safe, don't worry. There's still someone else watching over me, remember?"

"Yes, but I don't exactly see Hiei anywhere." Botan said, scanning the rooftops of the buildings surrounding them. "I do think that you're being a bit too optimistic, Yuki, think of the consequences of your action."

Yuki sighed again and nodded, "Yes, Botan, I'm going back."

"That's a good sport." Botan formed her oar and sat down upon it, "I'll check in again after school, so do wait for me in the school courtyard." Yuki nodded a yes and, with a wave, Botan flew up into the blue sky and out of view. Yuki watched her for as long as she could and smiled at the bright day. She breathed in the air of the open space and headed back into class.

* * *

After school, Yuki waited for Botan in the courtyard. The other students had all already gone home, save for the Student Council, including Keiko, and the two boys. Koenma had, after all, told them to never let her out of their sight, but they were impatient as they waited for the Grim Reaper to come.

"I swear, could she take any longer?" Yusuke wondered, "How long are we gonna have to stand here and wait?"

"You boys can go home first if you like." Yuki offered.

Kuwabara shook his head, "Nuh uh. We were instructed to not leave you out of our sight. We have to stay here."

"I assure you that it's quite alright. I think I can walk a few blocks home by myself, thank you. You guys must be tired from school and it isn't fair to make you wait with me. Kurama's house isn't that far off, so you guys can go on and head home."

"Are you sure?" Yusuke asked, "I don't know…"

She winked at them, "It's the least I can do for ruining your fight this morning."

"Okay, Yuki, but if Botan doesn't come soon go straight to Kurama's home, got it?"

Yuki nodded and waved goodbye as the two boys left their separate ways for home. Of course neither was really going home. Kuwabara was going to go make his rounds about the city with his three friends and Yusuke, of course, was going to go to the arcades. Yuki tapped her foot, growing impatient. School had let out almost half an hour ago. She was supposed to go with Kurama and Shiori to shop for some school supplies; they would be wondering where in the world she was. The wind suddenly picked up, blowing through her wavy brown hair. In the silence of the courtyard, there was definitely something eerie in the wind. Yuki felt goose bumps beginning to prick her skin. She scanned the area, looking for someone or something that would make her feel this way, but there was nothing. The wind picked up again, whipping her hair and clothes about. Just as the wind was beginning to die down, something flew passed Yuki's head, narrowly missing it, and even slicing off a strand of her hair. The beautiful glass kunai lodged itself into the school building just behind Yuki. Her eyes were wide with fear; she hadn't even felt the presence of the kunai's owner. Yuki turned on her heels and seized the kunai, yanking it from the school building's wall. The glass it was made from acted like a prism, the light shining through it refracting the rainbow across the floor as she pulled the letter that was attached to the hilt off. She unfolded the white piece of paper and silently read it to herself, her heart dropping at the same time:

_**We're coming for you, Snow Princess. Watch your back.**_

"Yuki!" She jumped when she heard someone shouting her name, shoving the kunai into her bag. Botan stopped her oar just above the ground in front of the other girl and stepped down, "I'm so sorry that I'm late, Yuki. I had to bring Koenma someone today, and they refused to leave the world of the living. It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave. Where are Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

"It's okay, Botan, and I told them to go home first." She said, masking her relief at not being alone anymore.

"What?! And they listened? Grr, those boys! Even after Koenma took the time to explain everything!! They should know better than that!" Yuki laughed and Botan sighed, "Anyway, so how was your day? Was it alright?"

"Yeah, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. You must be very busy too, Botan. You don't have to keep checking in on me you know."

"I know that." Botan smiled softly at her, "But I just want to make sure that you're fitting in alright. New environments can be tough to adjust to."

"Well despite what other demons may say about them, the Spirit Detectives have been very kind to me."

"That's good to hear. Now, I'll walk you home, okay?"

"Alright." Yuki nodded. "Thanks for always looking out for me, Botan."

"No problem." She replied.

"Say, Botan?" Yuki said a little hesitantly, "About the boys…Not just collectively, but as individuals…What do you think of them?"

"Well, finally someone asks my opinion!" Botan exclaimed, "Now let's see, we'll start with Yusuke. He can be an arrogant pig sometimes, and all sorts of vulgar words come out of his mouth! And Kuwabara! That boy just doesn't seem to think! Kurama's always so quiet, and Hiei! Don't even get me started with that self centered fire demon!"

"Oh, I see…" She said quietly, looking at the ground as they walked.

"Oh…Um…" Botan trailed, "Why…did you ask, Yuki?"

Yuki sighed, "I don't know…Guess I was just fishing for conversation…I don't know very much about any of these four boys."

"We-well, you didn't let me finish!" Botan laughed nervously, feeling bad from the disheartened tone Yuki had taken on, "Yusuke can be a pig, but he has saved the world on several occasions. Underneath all the gambling, smoking, and vulgar words there's a champion with a true heart there, and Kuwabara can be very gentle and he's got a heart of gold. Kurama always knows what's up and he's very wise for one his age, and Hiei…Well? Hiei has had his moments, and he may not show it, but I think that somewhere inside him he's got a heart that cares, maybe a little too much. Now, out with it girl, what's with the philosophical question?"

"I was just thinking that…Maybe staying here isn't that awful since the people are so kind." Yuki replied, "I'm just at a loss for how I should behave. At home in the palace, I always had to have manners when talking to others, no matter if I disliked them or not. Even when speaking to other family members, the palace guards, other nobles, civilians…There were always rules, protocols I had to follow to a tee. How am I supposed to act? What should I do, what should I say? I don't want to do or say something that makes one of them hate me. What if I do something wrong? Make a mistake? What if one of them ends up disliking me? This is my first time out of the palace walls. What do I do? I just…I don't want it to turn out badly…"

"Now let's stay calm," Botan said, putting a soft hand on her shoulder, "Now I don't know very much about life as a royal, but I do know this. Out here, I suppose the only thing you need to do is be yourself. Has anyone ever asked you to just be yourself? There aren't any rules for living normally, and if you want to say something, just say it. Of course you can't please everyone all the time, but you can just be yourself."

"I've always had rules before…What if who I really am turns out to be someone really ugly?"

"I'm sure the real you will be simply gorgeous." Botan said with a smile. She then slapped her on the back, "Now lighten up! You're starting to remind of an old woman!" Botan began to laugh and Yuki couldn't help but crack a smile. Pretty soon, the two were laughing and giggling all the way down the street, not even noticing the people staring at them as they went.

Yuki turned around to speak with the blue haired girl face to face as they rounded a corner, only to blindly run into someone. Yuki immediately twister around, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"There you are." Kurama said in surprise, "I was wondering where you'd gone off to."

"Oh, Kurama." Yuki said, equally surprise, "Fancy meeting you here. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I was just talking with Botan. I know I'm really late. I guess we can't go shopping anymore…"

He shook his head, "That's alright. Come on then, we'd better get home now. Thank you for looking after her, Botan."

"No problem." Botan said with a smile, "We had a blast talking, isn't that right, Yuki?"

Yuki nodded, "See you later, Botan."

Yuki and Kurama both headed towards the Minamino residence. Though the trip was silent, as both were not talkative people, it was one of pleasantry. The day had not been particularly stressful for either of them and a quiet walk was just what they needed. Like the night before, the light in the living room was on, though it was not as late as yesterday.

Kurama stopped Yuki on the doorstep, "I believe my mother has a surprise waiting for you upstairs in your bedroom."

"A surprise?" Yuki said curiously as they entered the home. Shiori cordially greeted her son and Yuki and they made their way up to their rooms.

"Ready?" Kurama asked, smiling as he opened the door to her room.

Under a white canopy made of lace sat a twin sized bed and the sheets had been changed from their usual white. The bed skirt and the bottom half of the comforter was black while the top half was a soft pink color. There was an abundance of pillows that were white and black. Pink, blue, and black butterflies and flowers decorated the sheets and matching pillows. There was a black and white plush cat sitting in front of the pillows with a red ribbon around its neck. Like the canopy overhanging the bed, the curtains had been changed to something similar. A special light that looked much like a wind chime had glowing yellow moons and red stars hanging from it; it hung from the ceiling near the bed. The desk was a simple wooden one with a low hutch. Plush bears, big and small, lined the hutch, and sitting on the desk was a black briefcase backpack for Yuki to use for school and a blue pencil box with mechanical pencils, extra lead, and an eraser inside. On the bed were not only fluffy white towels but a two piece pajama. The top was a short sleeved blue button up with matching pants.

"When...did your mother have time to get all this?" Yuki said, dumbstruck.

"Well, I suppose she had all day to prepare." Kurama replied, "She's quick with decorating, isn't she? I told you my mother's always wanted a daughter, so she probably already had an idea of what it was she wanted her daughter's room to look like. You should probably start your homework now." Kurama informed her before going to his own bedroom and shutting the door.

Yuki closed the door to her room and looked at the decorations surrounding her. She smiled to herself; how wonderful it was to live with such kind people! She went to her desk, moving things around if need be, and began to unpack her school things from her schoolbag. That's when her hand hit the hilt of the crystal dagger. Yuki felt as if she had been doused over by a bucket of ice water, feeling her heart sink to the soles of her feet. She had completely forgotten completely about the dagger; she had completely forgotten about the death threat. She sat down in her chair and stared at the dagger and the attached note, frowning, contemplating. Yuki sighed and threw open a drawer in her desk and dropped it in with a clatter.

"As if." Yuki said to herself, "As if a tacky weapon and a death threat could scare me now. It's just restating something I already knew." She promptly shut the drawer and pulled out her homework, realizing the awful, if not painful, reality of the fact that she didn't have a clue how to do it. "Great…Just great…"

* * *

Sorry for taking so long with this chapter! I know not a lot happened in this one, but please review! So what will happen next? Who sent the dagger to Yuki? Was it just some demon looking to cash in at the Black Market, or, worse, was it the Prism Bandits?

*I realized that most foreign exchange students are generally in the same grade as the host's child who was asked to take in an exchange student, but I think that there are some who are in this same situation, right? And if not, sorry folks! Because I kind of dug myself a big hole here *Sweatdrop*


	5. Blood and Tears

Yu Yu Hakusho_**  
A Diamond's Heart**_

Chapter Five  
Blood and Tears

Quietly, Hiei watched from the rooftop of the Minamino's neighbors home as Yuki struggled through her homework. The day rapidly became night, and pretty soon it had gotten pretty late, and Yuki seemed to still be stuck on the same problem. For nearly a week now he had carefully watched the young demoness who now seemed utterly human struggle through her classes and homework. Could she really have been demon at one point? Not only did she smell like a human, even her energy, though it was a bit different, seemed more human than demon, and after watching her trip and get a bruised knee once he also realized that her body must be as fragile as a human's too. Something as gentle and naïve as she couldn't possibly be demon, could she? He briefly wondered why it was that she agreed to go to school when she clearly didn't have to; he also wondered why she even bothered to try doing the homework. Hiei stopped himself right there. Why did he care? It's not like he knew her, and it wasn't as if he was concerned about her. He clearly was not a babysitter, so why was he always expected to do so?

Yuki suddenly looked outside of the window, as if sensing his presence, and Hiei immediately stood from where he was sitting and left to the other side of the house, where Kurama too was doing his homework. He slipped in through the unlocked window, somehow passing by Kurama's desk right in front of it without disturbing him.

"Hiei," Kurama greeted him.

"Hn." Was his reply.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Kurama asked.

"Why would you think I wanted to ask you something?"

"Why else would you be here?"

"…The supposed bandits after her haven't shown their faces at all since the first night."

"Yes, you're right." Kurama put his pencil down, "It is rather peculiar. We haven't seen any sign of them anywhere in the city, which leads us to assume they haven't yet found a way to Ningenkai. However, it could also just be a ploy to get us to let our guard down. Aside from our missing kidnappers, we also haven't a clue what it is that they are looking for and what sort of information Yuki possesses that could aid them in finding it."

"This case is going nowhere." Hiei said, "I don't want to babysit forever."

Kurama nodded, "We should devise a plan with Yusuke and Kuwabara. They must be somewhere in the city. I suppose now we'll have to search the entire town."

"Hn." The fire demon blinked as his answer; that did seem to be the only solution, no matter how tedious a task that would be. If the Prism Bandits wouldn't come to them, then they would have to go in search of them.

In the room next door Yuki was utterly fed up with her homework. "Why is math so hard?" She pondered as she attempted to solve the algebraic problem sitting in front of her for the tenth time that night. She had already reread the lesson that the teacher had taught them today but she still couldn't comprehend it. Yuki sighed as she stood from her desk, gathering her papers and book and going to the hallway. She was about to knock on Kurama's door when she decided not to. She turned away, thinking to herself, 'He's probably busy. Better not disturb him.' Yuki sighed again and resigned herself to continue her homework alone.

"Yuki?" Kurama's voice came through the door, "Is there something you needed?"

"Um, well, I-I didn't mean to bother you." She said nervously.

"What's the matter?"

"We-well…I'm having a hard time with some of my homework…Could you help me?"

"Certainly, come in." Kurama opened the door for her; Hiei had already left out the window. He led her to his desk where he set the book down. "Alright, now which problem are you having a hard time with?"

* * *

Yusuke grinned to himself as he beat the arcade game he sat at, "I'm a real pro at this one now."

"You do, huh?" A boy who looked only a few years older than Yusuke approached him. His hair was a dark ice blue, like that color the ocean got only when you went you went up to the arctic, and was short in a stylish fashion. His blue eyes were like flecks of ice, emotionless and cold as he stared at Yusuke. He was wearing black jeans and a form fitting blue button up shirt.

"Okay…" Yusuke said, unnerved by his eyes, "And here I thought Botan was the only one with blue hair."

"Since you're a pro at this one, why not try another one?" The boy suggested. He beckoned towards the arm wrestling game, "How about that one? Let's see which one of us can beat the machine in the least amount of time."

"Hah." Yusuke laughed, "I'm an expert at the one too!" Yusuke stood from his seat in front of the arcade machine. He walked until he was to the left of the machine, "I'll let you go first."

The man simply smirked and confidently walked to the machine. After inserting some coins to pay for the game, he rolled the sleeve of his right arm up and lightly grasped the metal hand. Just as he did so the machine started up, pushing his hand back, but Yusuke knew that he was letting the machine beat him on purpose. In one swift motion, in less than a blink of an eye, the blue haired man slammed the machine hand down. It was then that Yusuke noticed the seven colored heptagon tattooed on the back of his right hand.

"Okay now I'm interested." Yusuke said.

"Shall we take this outside, Mr. Spirit Detective?" He smirked as he rolled his sleeve back down. The man watched Yusuke with his pale eyes and then moved to exit. He briefly looked back, making sure that the teenager was following, and trekked down the street.

Yusuke followed him for a long while, thinking to himself, 'This guy's definitely not human. At first I couldn't tell, but the way he's releasing his energy it's like he wants me to know now that he's a demon.'

"Getting impatient, Detective?" He mocked, looking back over his shoulder. "It won't be long now."

Yusuke soon found himself standing alone with the man in a field of sorts on the outskirts of town. Yusuke moved his eyes from side to side; there didn't seem to be anyone else here. He had half expected an ambush. The man was staring at him a few yards away with his pale unfeeling eyes, and Yusuke could feel the tension of the silence rising. The feeling he felt was worse than being ambush. It was anticipation, waiting for something awful to happen, but at the same time not knowing when it was coming or how long he would have to wait for it to come. Adrenaline was pumping through his body, and he could hear and sense every movement all around them.

The other, however, was much calmer, standing coolly in front of Yusuke as he watched him sweat. He began to chuckle, "My, my. Never had I ever thought that I'd be standing right in front of the Spirit Detective. It truly is an honor."

"Alright, just who the hell are you?" Yusuke demanded impatiently.

"You're as impatient as they say, but you can relax. I'm not here to ambush you. If you must know, they call me Hyouga, and as you've probably noticed, I'm not your simple everyday ordinary demon."

"No, you just run around with rainbows tattooed to your body and trying to kidnap helpless girls."

Hyouga laughed outright, "You do have a sense of humor, Detective! I like that about you. But I assure you the girl that you've been protecting is far from helpless."

"What exactly are you saying?" Yusuke said suspiciously.

"How much do you really know about Lady Hyousetsu?" Hyouga questioned, "How much about her has Koenma informed you of?"

"I know, she's a princess." Yusuke said, "Not that big a deal. I also know you guys killed her dad."

"Then I suppose you know that she's lost practically all her memories as well?" He asked, to which Yusuke nodded, "Haven't you ever wondered where Yuki came from? Not just what she is, but who she is? Hyousetsu was not only a gentle princess, but a powerful and cleverly smart one at that. The illusion that surrounds the mountain her kingdom sits upon was designed by none other than herself. It's a string of puzzles and traps, and almost impenetrable at that. No matter how hard you try, you can't even seem to get on the very mountain."

"Is that why you're after Yuki? You want to get on the mountain?"

"You aren't bright, are you?" Hyouga said with a chuckle, "How do you think we killed her father? We got up the mountain, of course."

"Then what do you want?" Yusuke demanded, "How did you get here to Human World? What are you guys looking for, and why do you need Yuki? Why did you come find me?"

"To clarify." He replied simply, answering his last question only, "Why do you think Lady Hyousetsu lost her memories? Did she ever answer that question?"

"We didn't ask."

"Her mother was murdered." Hyouga smirked when Yusuke gave him a shocked expression, "I'm sure you were told that both her mother and brother were all dead, and now her father too. The truth is they didn't just _**die**_, all three were _**murdered**_. The gentle, clever, kind Princess Hyousetsu has a past written in blood she refuses to remember. First it was her older brother, Prince Kousetsu. He was leaving on his annual trip around Makai, when the bridge his caravan was crossing was sabotaged. Whether he was crushed under debris from the bridge or he was swept downstream, he was never seen again. Then it was her mother, Queen Setsugekka, who was bled out like a sacrificial pig. I suppose that display of gore was what pushed her over the edge, because Hyousetsu was forced to watch it all as her mother's assailants stabbed her again and again and again. That's right, the night her mother was murdered, was the night Hyousetsu lost her memories and decided to become Yuki. That was nearly a decade ago. And oh, imagine having to hear your father screaming in agony as he's being tortured to death and not being able to do a thing but watch and cry!"

"You bastard," Yusuke's hands curled into fists as he gritted his teeth, trying to contain the rage that was surging through his veins, "Are you telling me you're the one who killed her family?!"

Hyouga smiled, "So you aren't as stupid as you made me initially think."

"You monster!" Yusuke shouted, charging, "It's never okay to take someone's family members away from them!"

"Are you sure that's wise?" Hyouga didn't even flinch when Yusuke ran at him. His words stopped the boy just short of slamming his fist into his face. "You don't have time to fight me."

Yusuke jumped back, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Are you so sure Lady Hyousetsu isn't in trouble?"

"Of course I'm sure." Yusuke answered, "She's with Kurama."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Yusuke became stiff at his words, "After school today, have you seen her yet? I certainly have."

"If you had really taken her you wouldn't be standing here talking to me." Yusuke tried to reason.

"Really? Hmm…Are you so sure she's with Kurama? She could be in danger right now, while you're wasting time trying to convince yourself that she's fine."

"Damn you." Yusuke growled, turning and running back into the city. "Stay here! I'll come back to bash your face in after I check on Yuki."

"Good work, Hyouga." A man suddenly appeared next to him; it was the leader of the Prism Bandits from the picture Koenma had shown them, "No doubt he will lead us straight to where Yuki is hiding."

* * *

Yusuke ran as fast as he could into the town, pushing passed a crowd of window shoppers who shouted at him. He ran about the city for a good ten minutes before he realized he didn't have a clue where he was going. When that thought finally connected from his brain to his legs, he stopped. "Wait, where am I going?" Yusuke asked himself, "I don't even know where Fox Boy lives!"

"Hey, Urameshi, what're you doing here?" Kuwabara ran up to him, followed by his three friends. "I thought you were going to the arcade or something."

"Yeah, I was there, but something came up." Yusuke said.

"Like what?" Kuwabara grinned, "Forgot you were supposed to meet Keiko or something?"

"No, you dolt, it's about Yuki!" He whispered urgently, "She's in trouble, so lose the three stooges here, and let's go!"

"What's this about, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked, "Isn't Yuki with Kurama?"

"And what if she's not?" Yusuke said, "What if she never made it to Kurama's? Or what if she got taken?"

"Well what're we supposed to do? I don't know where he lives, and neither do you, right?"

"Doing something is better than nothing, now come on!"

"Hey guys, I gotta go." Kuwabara told them as he followed Yusuke, "See ya later!" They ran to the end of the street and turned the corner. Kuwabara grabbed Yusuke's shoulder, stopping him, "Okay now talk. What're we going to do?"

"Let me call Botan first." Yusuke said, pulling his purple compact out of his pocket, "Hey, Botan?"

The screen flashed for a while and then suddenly Botan's head came on, "Yusuke? What is it?"

"Botan, I think Yuki might be in trouble." Yusuke said.

"What?! What do you mean you think she might be in trouble?! You boys were supposed to be watching her!"

"Yeah, yeah, just tell us how to get to Kurama's house, alright?"

Botan gave him an indignant look, "Well how am I supposed to know? It's not like I record where all of you live!"

"Then how are we supposed to find her!?!" Yusuke shouted.

"Well don't yell at me!" She screamed back.

"Hey, Botan, do you have like some kind of tracking device or something?" Kuwabara asked.

"What? Of course she doesn't." Yusuke said, "Don't you think she would have said something about that if she did?"

Botan laughed nervously, "Ha ha…Well actually, I do!" Yusuke glared at her, and Botan laughed nervously again, "You see, Koenma has taken every precaution to make sure that she's under constant surveillance, so we gave her a special earring to wear! Underneath all the brown hair, Yuki's supposed to wear an earring that looks like an ordinary diamond stud earring, but inside is really a tracking device. Just press the button on the lower left and it should activate it. The blue dot will be where you are, Yusuke, and the red one will be where Yuki is."

"Right, thanks Botan." Yusuke said, immediately hitting the button she instructed him to hit. The screen flashed again, but this time it showed a sort of map where there were two blinking dots. Roads and streets were marked down as simple line outlines. "Geez, why'd she have to be so far away?"

"Well at least she's not moving." Kuwabara commented. "Maybe she's at Kurama's house sleeping?"

"Well she better stay inside. I just hope she's alright." Yusuke said as the two chased after the red dot on the screen.

* * *

Yuki was finally done with her homework. At this point in the school year they hadn't learned anything exceedingly difficult to learn and after hearing Kurama's explanation and watching him demonstrate how to do the math problems she realized they were quite easy to complete. So, for the first time that week, she was finished with her homework early. Kurama, who had a school with a harder work load was still quietly writing at his desk. Yuki was sitting on the floor, leaning up against his desk just beside him. She was currently sketching "doodles" in her notebook, which actually weren't much like doodles at all. Long ago, Yuki had discovered she had a natural talent for not only sketching other people and objects but drawing and coloring them as well. She had already drawn many sketches inside, including one of Kurama while he concentrated upon his homework, and was now working on a drawing of none other than Hiei from her memory. She first drew him with his usual unreadable expression, but then her mind began to wonder what he would look like if he was smiling. Quietly, Yuki erased the line for his mouth and then drew it again, but this time as a smile. The image made her smile and she began to giggle. 'He's so cute.' Yuki thought, 'I wonder how come he never smiles.'

"What are you giggling about?" Kurama asked, smiling too.

"Oh, um, nothing." Yuki said, pressing the notebook to her body trying to hide her drawings, "Sorry for bothering you."

"Come on, let me see." Kurama said, taking the notebook from her hands. He began to flip through the drawings inside, his eyes landing on one of himself and the next one of Hiei. "These are pretty good."

"Thanks." Yuki smiled, "I like drawing people. At first I drew Hiei scowling, but I think he looks better when he smiles."

Kurama chuckled at her statement and started flipping through the notebook again, falling this time on the picture of a beautiful woman. She was smiling, her blue hair falling in graceful waves as she smiled up at him. "Who is this woman?" Kurama asked, handing Yuki her notebook back.

Yuki's expression fell when she saw the image in her notebook. Her eyes were distant and sad as she remained silent. Kurama waited patiently for her to answer. "She's my mother." Yuki said, her voice wavering, "I was told her name was Queen Setsugekka. I can barely remember her, and I need the aid of the portraits in the palace to remember her face, but you don't really smile in portraits because it takes too long to paint one and smiling through the whole thing is painful, so I tried drawing her with one, just to see."

"Your mother is lovely." Kurama said. "Amnesia can be hard to recover from, but many do. Someday, you will regain your memories."

"Do you think Hiei would like it if I showed him the drawing I did of him?" Yuki asked.

Before Kurama could answer, they were interrupted by Shiori. "Shuichi?" She called up the stairs, "Could you come down for a second?"

Yuki followed Kurama downstairs. Shiori was at the stove, cooking them dinner. "Yes mother?" Kurama said softly.

"Sweetie, I forgot to buy eggs today." Shiori said, "And I was going to make us omelets to eat tonight. Could you run to the store to buy some for me? My wallet is in my purse."

"Yes, of course Mother." Kurama replied, getting some money for the eggs.

"I'll go with him." Yuki said as Kurama was leaving the house.

The two walked down the street the Minamino house sat upon and into town. They went into a grocery store and bought some eggs. On the way back, they were sidetracked when Yuki noticed a street performer across the street. Reluctantly, Kurama complied with the curious girl's pleading and they went to watch. The street performer was a magician who did juggling and card tricks, and had a "magic staff" that produced flames as well as set white birds free, and when Kurama and Yuki approached the front he created a burst of flower petals.

"We should get going." Kurama said.

Yuki, laughing and giggling, nodded, "Okay."

"You seem awfully relaxed for someone who has assassins after you." Kurama commented as they started back towards the residential area.

"Despite what you may think it's actually quite hard to be afraid." Yuki told him calmly, "Because, either you or Yusuke or Kuwabara is usually with me, sometimes two at a time, and besides…I know that Hiei is always watching." She said while looking up at the roof of a building. As if on cue, Hiei was there on the rooftop, watching her and Kurama from a distance. Yuki waved to him; Hiei simply looked away in what Yuki perceived as embarrassment. "I wish he wouldn't be so prideful and just come down from there."

"You are quite taken with Hiei." Kurama observed, "You're confidence in his ability to protect you is astounding."

Yuki blushed, looking at the ground, "It's not as severe as you make it sound…My father once taught me that you can't completely trust anyone outside your family, not even the castle guards. He said that the only reason they were protecting us was because it was in their best interest, and as soon as they got a better opportunity they'd turn on us too. But…Do you remember when we first met? Hiei pinned me to the ground, but there was something in his eyes. It's like…I know he won't hurt me, or let anyone else either."

"You make it sound like the rest of us are less than trustworthy." Kurama commented, though he knew that's not what she meant. "If I may ask a question? Why did you choose now to ask for help? You said so yourself assassins have been chasing you all your life, but you chose to ask for help this time. I had heard that you had perfected a safe house of sorts, a room concealed behind an infinite amount of complex traps and puzzles."

"That's true. I surrounded our kingdom in the puzzles I'd created myself. One system surrounds the very base of the mountain, while another is around the castle walls. A third system, the most complicated one, is used to guard a special room I use. But like all puzzles, it is possible to crack it. Although some have gotten passed the ones at the base of the mountain and passed the ones around the kingdom, there has only been two who have made it into my safe house, and one of them was the Prism Bandits. Outside the Royal Family, there are only the Nobles who live in the kingdom that know the actual key to unlocking the outer two systems. I do not doubt that some of the Nobles have sold that information to others for a hefty price, or even sent the assassins themselves, but there are so many Noble Families that it is impossible to pinpoint exactly which ones they are. However…No one knows the key to my secret room, except myself and three others, my family, and as you know they are all dead. That's why I asked Spirit World for help."

"That is a hefty burden for one such as you to carry." Kurama said quietly, "You cannot even trust the Nobles of your own Court…I see now why your father told you to not trust others, but we are different; we aren't members of your Court. Give us a chance, and you will see; we will not betray you."

"I was thinking about what you said." Yuki commented as she stared ahead of herself, "How you said it was okay to lean on others. Well…I'm trying. I'm trying to lean on you guys, and I'm trying not to expect the worse. I want to be able to trust you."

Kurama smiled softly and placed a gentle hand on the short girl's head. Yuki was surprised at first but then smiled back. They continued on back to the house, unaware of the fact the Yusuke and Kuwabara were searching for them. Around two or three blocks away, the two teenaged boys were racing towards them, hoping she was alright. Unbeknownst to them, in the shadows a demon who had concealed his presence was following.

"Crap, they're on the move again." Yusuke said. "Where are they taking her?"

"What if they took the earring off of her?" Kuwabara suggested, "I mean, it's possible they found out it's a tracking device so they like attached it to something else?"

"Let's hope that's not the case." Yusuke stated, "Or somebody's going to get it!"

The demon, something that looked like a cross between a man and a lizard, had a spear strapped to his back and had followed them for another block or two, but that's when he noticed Kurama and Yuki taking a shortcut through a park. The demon snickered to himself, "Why bring the Princess back to Hyouga when I can take the credit myself? The Master will be so pleased with me he'll make me his right hand man and drop Hyouga!!" The lizard demon raced towards them, drawing the spear from his back, grinning to himself.

"Do you sense that?" Yuki said to Kurama, without stopping or looking behind her.

"Yuki, keep walking." Kurama handed her the egg, "Hiei and I will handle him." Yuki nodded. As she continued forward, Kurama stopped. Just as the lizard demon landed in the park, Kurama drew his Rose Whip as Hiei drew his sword. Together, they easily sliced the demon into bits and pieces.

Yuki then turned around, looking at the pile of blood and body parts that lay in front of them, "That's…disgusting…" She said as Kurama took back the bag holding the eggs.

"Hn. The fools are coming." Hiei said.

"Hey!" Kuwabara shouted as he and Yusuke came careening into the park, "It's like an afterschool reunion."

"Yuki…" Yusuke stopped a few feet from the girl, his brown eyes large as he stared at her. Hyouga's words were running through his mind.

… _**bled out like a sacrificial pig…stabbed her again and again and again…screaming in agony as he's being tortured to death…**_

"What?" Yuki asked, mostly directing her question towards Yusuke because of the expression on his face, "What is it?"

"Well some freaky dude went and called Urameshi out." Kuwabara said, "He told him you were in trouble."

"Um, I'm just fine." Yuki said. Her blue eyes darted to Yusuke, whose expression had changed a bit. "No really. I went home after school with Botan and Kurama, and then we did our homework. We came out just now to buy some eggs so Ms. Minamino can make omelets."

"Well he must've said something weird cuz he got Urameshi all crazy and stuff and made us run all over town chasing after you, which I guess was a complete waste of time because you're alright."

"No she's not." Yusuke gritted his teeth as he looked down at the ground, his hands curling into fists. "Why didn't you tell us?" He asked. He moved forward, seizing Yuki by the shoulders and shaking her lightly, "Why didn't you tell us they made you watch? I mean, who the hell makes a kid watch their parents being killed?!" Yuki's eyes were wide as she stared into Yusuke's, shocked by his knowledge and unsure of how to respond to his questions.

"What?!" Kuwabara exclaimed, the other two as shocked as he, "Ew that's gross!"

"Answer me!" Yusuke demanded, gripping Yuki's shoulders even tighter. Tears began to gather in her blue eyes, not because he was hurting, mostly because he wasn't, but because of what he was asking her. "Tell me!" Yuki didn't answer, only looking down. Her bangs shadowed her eyes so that they could not see, but they didn't have to see her eyes to know that she was crying, for twin streams of crystalline tears ran down her cheeks. "Why…Why didn't you tell us? Yuki?!"

"Yusuke, that's enough." Kurama said, pulling the younger boy away.

"But…" Yusuke's protest was silenced by a shake of Kurama's head.

Yuki shook in place as the tears continued to fall. As Yusuke's questions ran through her head, in the depths of her mind where she had forced them back, the screams of her parents came floating back.

_Blood, crimson red blood poured from the wound. He tore the blade from her body, blood splattering across her face and the floor. He dove back in again and again. _

_Setsugekka fell to the floor, her white dress drenched in her own blood. Hyousetsu broke free from the demons holding her back, but the leader caught her in his grasp. He forced her to look, forced her to see as she stood in a puddle of her own mother's blood what he had done to her. As the man laughed in her ear, all she could see was her mother's bloodied face and body as she lay motionless on the floor. "No…" Hyousetsu whispered as she shook, "No! No!!!"_

"**NO!!!!!**" Yuki screamed, clutching her head, "_Stop it! __**No more!**_" Yuki turned, too fast to see, running passed Kuwabara and Yusuke. She couldn't face them, not now, and given the information they just learned, Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara had not the heart to stop them. Hiei surged forward. As Yuki ran passed him, at the last moment he seized her hand. Yuki whipped back around, shouting, "Leave me alone!" Hiei's red eyes met her diamond blue ones, and she found she could not look away, could no longer run. Yuki's arms dropped to her sides as Hiei let go of her hand, the three boys coming to join them.

"I can't stop seeing their faces…" Yuki whispered, her body shaking, "And I can't stop hearing them screaming…Do you know what that's like?!" She cried. The boys remained silent, waiting for her explanation. "I couldn't save them! It's my fault! If I had been stronger, I could've stopped them. How could I tell you that? How could I tell you that it was my fault that they're dead?"

"How…the hell is that your fault?" Yusuke questioned.

"If I had been stronger," Yuki reasoned between her tears, "If I hadn't been so weak, I could have saved both of them! Why me? Why did I get to live and not them?!"

"Oh give me a break!" Yusuke shouted, "It's not like you asked for those people to come kill your parents? Why…Are you blaming yourself?" Yusuke quieted down. He reached a hand forward, wiping her tears from her cheeks and eyes, "It isn't your fault just because you lived and they didn't."

"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed, "Do you think they'd want you to blame yourself for their deaths? What kind of parents would they be then?"

"Your parents have died, but Destiny has allowed you to survive." Kurama said softly, "The burden of their deaths is not yours to carry, but their murderers. You can't live your life blaming yourself for every thing bad that happens. You must press onward; there is still time for you to grow stronger."

"Hn." Hiei scoffed.

"What was that, Hiei?" Kuwabara said, "What's your problem?"

"I say if she wants to blame herself then go ahead, be my guest." He turned his back to them, looking over his shoulder, "If she can't see that her hands aren't the ones who took their lives, then she deserves to be blamed."

"Hiei…" Yuki said. She stared at his back with wide eyes, her tears gone. Their eyes met again for only a second before he looked away, disappearing from view as he left.

"Don't listen to him." Kuwabara grumbled, "He's always gotta be so bitter."

Yuki shook her head, "No, he's right. You're all right. Thank you…Thanks guys…"

"Shuichi!" Shiori came running into the park, her expression clearly frantic, "Yuki! Oh thank goodness you two are alright. You took so long to buy some eggs, I thought something had happened to the two of you."

"I apologize, Mother." Kurama said.

"It's my fault, Ms. Minamino." Yuki put in, "I'm sorry. I saw a street performer and made Shuichi stop and watch him with me. And then we met up with some friends from school." She indicated Yusuke and Kuwabara who nervously waved a hello to her.

Shiori sighed, "Oh, I see." Shiori's kind heart and soft spoken nature allowed her to dismiss their long absences without giving it much thought, "Let's go home, shall we?"

"Yes." Yuki nodded. She turned back to Yusuke and Kuwabara, "Thanks, guys." She walked with Kurama and his mother as they started back to the house, trailing just a bit behind Kurama. "You too, Kurama." She whispered. He simply smiled and pretended he hadn't heard her. Yuki sighed to herself but nearly stopped when she felt something zoom passed them overhead. In her heart Yuki knew that it was Hiei. Softly, she smiled to herself and thought, 'Thanks, Hiei.'

* * *

Hyouga landed on a tree in the park. It had been hours since Yuki and the boys had left. The pile of demon remains, however, still lay where Hiei and Kurama had slain him. Hyouga jumped down from the tree, walking over to where the pieces of the demon were. He looked upon it with disgust, "How very disgusting. He should've known that he'd be no match for Kurama or Hiei, let alone both." Hyouga sighed and pulled out a strange crystal device. He began to speak into it, "Master?"

"Yes, Hyouga?" A calm male voice came through.

"My minion went and got himself turned into a pile of meat." He said, "He did not follow orders and did not discover Yuki's hideout. However…"

"Yes?"  
"However, despite his failure, at least his remains have served some sort of purpose."

"Oh, Hyouga? And what would that be?"

"Currently I am standing in a neighborhood park. Since he was slain here, we can infer that Reikai is hiding her somewhere within this very neighborhood."

"Yes, excellent work Hyouga."

"Thank you sir." Hyouga laughed as he looked around the surrounding area, "We're coming for you, Hyousetsu."

* * *

Okay so that's ch. 5!!! I'm going on a trip really soon so I don't know if I'll be able to update again anytime soon. I'll try to get to a computer, but I can't make any promises! Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review!!! What will happen next? What do the Prism Bandits have in store for the boys and Yuki? And how will they solve this case if they don't even know where they're hiding? Keep reading to find out!!


	6. Deceitful Memories

Note: Sorry this took so long guys! I've been preoccupied. I started my own web/blog thing recently. There isn't much on it but if you want to visit the address is on my profile page. Also, I've been writing Beyblade fanfics as well as Bleach. I realized that my story "A Second Chance" is actually quite popular despite my previous doubts about it, so I hope to get the second chapter of that out as well as continue this story and start another Bleach one soon. Please be patient with me and thanks for all the support ^-^

* * *

Yu Yu Hakusho_**  
A Diamond's Heart**_

Chapter Six  
Deceitful Memories

Yuki bit her lip as she lay in her bed. She sat up, feeling a strange unsettling feeling welling inside of her heart. Something…Something strange…She felt as if she had lied that night. Not just about anything, but about the memory of her mother's death in particular. It was as if a chunk of it had been missing, or perhaps her mind had fabricated parts of it. She felt like she had lied to the boys about the feeling of guilt she had inside.

"They said it wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault." She chanted like a mantra, but it was no use. Guilt ate her insides and she couldn't understand why. What was this? Why? What had she forgotten? What had she made up? It didn't make sense. Her mind told her something was wrong, like a memory that had been tampered with. Something didn't fit, but she couldn't remember what.

An unfamiliar rustling out of her window alerted her. Immediately, she seized her set of kunai from under her pillow. Because she wore the school uniform mostly during the day now, there wasn't room to hide them in her clothes, so she had placed half of them under her pillow and the other half in her school bag. She pulled the covers off, walking cautiously to the window. She quickly opened it, searching left and right, but there was no one there, or so it seemed.

Yuki sighed, telling herself that she was being paranoid and that she had school to attend tomorrow and should go back to sleep. As she walked back to her bed, something caught her eye. It was the glint of her blade in the moonlight. _The glint of her blade in the moonlight…_The memory suddenly came in a flash, just a moment, but what she saw frightened her even more. Her mother was dead and in her hand was a bloodied knife. Yuki dropped her kunai and it clattered loudly, too loudly, as it hit the wooden floor. Her legs became weak and she sat back, thankfully the bed was behind her. Her body shook. Could it be? That the night her mother died…Could it be that she…?

"It's not my fault." Yuki clutched her head as both memories began to flash through her mind, "They said it wasn't my fault. It's not my fault!" But Yuki only felt as if she were trying to convince herself of that. Guilt began to consume her as she asked herself repeatedly, "What have I done?" Her body began to quake, racked with sobs for not knowing or understanding, unaware that Hiei was watching her outside.

* * *

It was finally Friday. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and even Yuki were all incredibly thankful the school week was through. As usual, Kuwabara beat up some kids just before the bell rang, proclaiming himself to be the "Number One Punk of Sarayashiki Junior High", to which Yusuke quickly refuted. Yuki could only laugh as the three hurried on to class, hiding her guilt well, unaware that people were whispering. Yuki began to notice an odd change in Yusuke's behavior. No matter where she went, he followed her. Even when she got up to go the restroom, he would immediately ask to go as well, waiting for her outside when she came out, and walking her back to class. After math and history, it was gym class, to which Yusuke of course skipped. He waited upstairs on the roof like usual, but Yuki could feel him watching her from up above, and when the bell rang to signify that gym was over he quickly returned to class, his eyes watching her carefully. Soon it was lunch time, and they decided to eat on the roof that day with Keiko and Botan. Yuki, absentminded, forgot her lunch down stairs, and it took five full minutes for her to convince Yusuke that it was alright for her to get her lunch by herself.

Yuki sighed when she walked into the classroom that was full of groups of her classmates enjoying their lunches. She walked to her desk, taking her lunchbox out of her bag. As she stared at the checkered pattern of the handkerchief Shiori used to wrap the bento she sighed again, "What's gotten into Yusuke? I wonder what's wrong with him…" Yuki was about to hurry back up to the rooftop when someone behind her tapped her shoulder. "Yes?" She asked as she turned.

She was faced with several of her classmates, who stared at her with a scrutinizing gaze, studying her carefully. One boy stepped forward, saying, "We noticed that you hang out with Urameshi a lot."

"Yeah…" She said slowly, not understanding.

"Well you're new, so we wouldn't expect you to know." One girl said.

"Know what?" She said, feeling a bit nervous by their suspicious behavior.

"Urameshi's bad news, Inoue!" The boy explained, "You shouldn't be hanging out with a thug like that!"

"Thug?" Yuki said, feeling a spark of anger as they insulted the two teens, "What do you mean thug?"

"He's always getting into trouble! He likes to fight all the time and beats people up! I wouldn't be surprised if he was part of a gang of murderers!"

"While the part about him liking to fight may be true – " Yuki began.

"See! Even you admit that they're bad! You shouldn't be hanging out with _his sort_."

"Now hold on just a minute." Yuki interrupted the next student who wanted to take a stab at the boys, "'His sort'? And exactly what 'sort' would that be? Do you even know him? I don't like it when people attack others behind their backs. If you have something to say about him then say it to his face. And for your information, Yusuke happens to be my – " Yuki felt her heart plummet, her mouth opening and closing, unable to finish her sentence. She couldn't get herself to say the last word.

"Happens to be what?" The boy mocked, "Your friend? See, you can't even get yourself to say it!"

"Well that…I…"

"Yeah, what's wrong with you? Just admit it; Urameshi's just all around bad news and should just drop out of our school. He gives us a bad reputation!"

"That's not true!" She said decisively, trying to get them to stop talking. "That's not true in the slightest!"

* * *

Upstairs, Yusuke was getting anxious again. _Are you so sure Lady Hyousetsu isn't in trouble? …You're wasting time trying to convince yourself that she's fine…__**She could be in danger right now.**_ Yusuke stood from his seat next to Keiko and Kuwabara, walking towards the entrance to the staircase.

"Yusuke, where are you going all of a sudden?" Keiko asked.

"I'm going to go check on why Yuki's taking so long." He said. He shut the door behind himself, ending the questions that they wanted to ask. Shoving his hands in his pocket, he stalked down the stairs. He couldn't place why Hyouga had unsettled him so much. There was something about him that told Yusuke he was more than he let on. No matter what he did, he couldn't be sure that Yuki was safe anymore. Even just letting her go downstairs alone worried him.

"Why can't you just admit that he's trouble?" A voice came from their classroom. Yusuke frowned as he walked in, and somehow he knew that his classmates were talking about him.

"Stop it!" Yuki protested, "You don't know him like I do! Yusuke has been very kind to me! How would any of you know about any of that?"

"Yo," Yusuke broke into the conversation, stopping the other students from talking. They froze, cowarding away from him and Yuki. "You sure are taking a long time getting your lunch."

"Yusuke," Yuki said quietly, "Sorry…" She grabbed her lunch and walked over to the doorway where he was.

"Come on, let's just go."

"But…They…"

Yusuke shook his head, "Who cares what they say. Let's just go."

"Okay…" She answered, leaving the classroom. All she could hear as they whispered behind them was _"Look at that thug…" _and_ "…gives our school a bad reputation!"_

"Hey, are you okay?" Yusuke asked her as they walked up the steps.

"Yeah, why?"

"Those guys did kind of gang up on you."

"It's nothing I can't handle." Yuki stopped, tugging on the sleeve of Yusuke's green shirt. The boy stopped and turned around, looking into her blue eyes with his brown ones. "Why…How come you let them talk about you like that? It's not true, you know…What they said."

"People like them don't want to listen." Yusuke replied, "They just wanna find someone they can all bash together."

"But I know you're not a thug." Yuki said, frowning, "I know that you're kind and gentle. And you've risked your life so many times to protect this world."

"Thanks, but I don't think they're gonna care about any of that even if they knew. Come on, let's just eat our lunch."

"Thanks for coming to rescue me." Yuki said, smiling at him. " And I know you're not a thug." She repeated again.

Yusuke sighed, unable to resist her sweet smile. He smiled back and pretended to punch her arm, "You're not so bad yourself."

* * *

Everyone was greatly relieved when the last school bell rang. Currently, the boys were escorting her to Kurama's school, where Kurama would then take her back to his house. It was an odd system of protection, but they had finally gotten down a routine of sorts. It didn't take them long before they could see Kurama and his school. He was leaning against the gates to his school, waiting for them to arrive.

"Yo," Yusuke said as a greeting.

"So guys," Yuki put in as they grouped together, "What should we do this weekend?"

"This weekend?" Kuwabara questioned.

She nodded, "I was told that weekends are like little mini holidays, where humans get to take a break from schoolwork. Are you busy this weekend?"

"No…Just wondering."

"Well, I was thinking that since we're all off," Yuki said, "We could do something fun? And of course we have to ask Botan to come too, and Yukina and Genkai, and Yusuke you could ask Keiko to come as well. And Kuwabara, you're always complaining about your sister Shizuru, but I've never even met her before. I wonder if Koenma would like to go?"

"What do you think?" Kurama asked, "I think it sounds like a great idea. Where did you have in mind?"

"I don't know…" She said, "I was going to ask you guys what you wanted to do."

"Huh, no one's ever asked me that before." Yusuke said, his expression deep thinking.

"I guess we could go to the beach or something…" Kuwabara said. His face perked up, "Then I'll get to see Yukina in a bikini! Er, I mean, yeah, the beach…"

"We could make a bonfire at night!" Yusuke shouted gleefully, "And, and! Roast marshmallows!"

"And make s'mores!" Kuwabara agreed.

"Sounds wonderful." Yuki smiled, "Do you think Hiei would like to go?" She directed her question mainly to Kurama, whom she felt had a much closer relationship to the fire demon than the other two boys.

"I'm not sure." Kurama replied, "Perhaps you should ask him?"

"That's a great idea." Yuki said.

"The beach it is then!" Yusuke said enthusiastically.

Yuki then remembered that Shiori wanted to bring her out shopping for a while. She reminded Kurama of this and, after saying their goodbyes, left to the Minamino residence. Yusuke wanted to protest that she shouldn't be alone, but Kuwabara made him be quiet. Shiori and Yuki bid Kurama a goodbye and left to go into town for shopping, leaving Kurama alone in the house to do his homework. Kurama, however, wasn't going to do his homework just yet. He and Hiei, who joined him when he stepped into his yard, backtracked to the park from the previous night. Yusuke and Kuwabara were already there, waiting for them.

"Hey guys, are you sure it's alright to leave Yuki alone?" Yusuke asked, "Hiei, can you see her with that third eye?"

"She's fine." Hiei closed his eyes, but his Jagan eye shined purple from underneath his headband.

"Yusuke, you're the only one who has had contact with the Prism Bandits since the first night." Kurama said, "Who came to meet you? What was his name, and how strong is he?"

"He said his name's Hyouga." Yusuke answered, "I don't know where he stands with the Prism Bandits, but he seemed pretty in control, so I'm guessing he's one of their leaders. How strong is he? That's a tough question. He's strong enough to suppress his powers, that's for sure."

"What did he say to you?" Kuwabara wondered, "Did he reveal like where they're hiding out or anything?"

"No." He shook his head, "Just…squawked about all the awful things him and his buddies did to Yuki's family. As gruesome as it was to hear, I can't see what purpose telling me how her brother got crushed under a bridge, her mom was stabbed to death, and her father was tortured would serve."

"Okay, okay, I don't wanna hear about it." Kuwabara cringed.

"So, Kurama, you and Hiei haven't seen any signs of them in the city?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama shook his head, "No. We have tried to sense their presence, but they are nowhere to be found. Needless to say, they have concealed themselves well."

"Well what if they don't even have a hideout anywhere here?" Kuwabara suggested.

"Hn. Fool." Hiei put in.

"What was that?!"

"Once again your stupidity outshines itself." He said, "How do you think they plan on kidnapping her if they haven't got a place to store her first?"

"I was just making a suggestion! At least I'm trying to help!"

"Now, now, children." Kurama said, chuckling.

"At least…they don't seem that tough." Yusuke said, "I mean, maybe that's why they keep hiding. The only problem is without making sure they're all dead we can't close this stupid case."

"Underestimate your opponents and you're a dead man." Hiei said.

"Yes," Kurama agreed, "I believe that they are waiting to see how we will react. They are allowing those other demons after Yuki to try us first. Once they have gauged our strength, they will strike. Or perhaps they are merely attempting to unnerve us, unhinge our resolves. We put all our strength into trying to sense for them, and when we are weakened by constant vigilance they will attack. A third is that they are just waiting for a moment that seems right, when we're caught off guard."

Yusuke gritted his teeth, "Well I don't like it! Why can't they just…Just come out and fight! I'm not a very patient person and I'd rather just bash their heads in and get it over with!"

"A fourth option," Kurama said, "Is that they are allowing Yuki some time to be free, before taking her."

"What do you mean, Kurama?" Kuwabara questioned.

"After speaking with her," He said a little more quietly, "I got the feeling that she's never had anyone for support. No friends, no comrades, just herself and her family, which we all know is gone now. She's never been beyond the confines of her castle, so all the people that she's ever met in her life must be guards or servants or members of her own Court, which she has made it clear that she was taught not to trust. If the last of what I have suggested is true, then perhaps the Prism Bandits are waiting in order to preserve what little freedom she's been allowed as of now, before taking her, in pity of some sort, a last act of mercy or kindness. You do realize that if we are successful in closing this case, Yuki will have to return to her kingdom."

The air between them became silent at this revelation. What Kurama said was true; of course if they were able to close the case Yuki would have to return. After all, she was their princess and the only living heir to throne. If she were gone, chaos would ensue as Koenma and Botan had explained before, and the whole point of their current case was to make sure that didn't happen. They had only known Yuki for so long, but the blow of that statement was something that none of them could quite comprehend just yet. It was something that they had all known from the start, yet none had wished to voice it. And perhaps they were getting ahead of themselves; that would only be the outcome if the could close this case. Which, currently, seemed quite impossible. They had no plan, no information, and no leads. Where should they start, that is, if any of them wanted to.

"Hn. Like I care." Hiei said, sounding very much like he was just trying to convince himself, "One less person to babysit."

"Oh boys!" A cheery voice broke into the silence. Botan, flying down to them on her oar, giggled. "Fancy seeing all four of you together! I was only searching for Yusuke, but what luck it is that I've found you! Oh! Where…Where is Yuki? And why are you four together?"

"There is no need to worry. She's been taken care of." Hiei said. He closed his eyes again, just to check up on her. His Jagan allowed him to see where Yuki was, and she was still with Shiori, shopping for clothes and accessories.

"Alright…" Botan said suspiciously, "But why are you four all together?"

"We're trying to discuss what we should do about the Prism Bandits." Kuwabara answered.

"Oh, never mind that now," Botan said. "They haven't shown up for quite some time, right? Any who, Kurama we've slightly modified your mother's memories so that now she thinks your school is having a trip, Yuki included of course, just for this weekend."

"Why?" Kurama inquired.

"Something has come up." She explained, "I realize that you're all on a case right now, but since Yuki seems to be safe for now, you'll have to take care of this new one first. You can just drop her off at Genkai's, we've already informed her, and she said that it would be alright. You see, something strange has happened. A small demon has slipped to Ningenkai from Makai."

"Oh, well why do you need Kurama?" Yusuke said, "I'll just take care of it myself. Someone has to stay back to keep Yuki safe."

"Yusuke, she'll be fine with Genkai." Botan said, "You don't seem to understand how dangerous this demon is. This demon, Yuudai, isn't exceedingly powerful, but he is quite fast, and he has an ability to use demon magic. His magic is flawless, and he uses it mostly to cause violence and chaos so he can steal valuable things, jewels are his favorite, but nonetheless he spells trouble for humans. Over the centuries he's slipped into Ningenkai several times already, and he enjoys wreaking havoc on humans. But this time we believe he has his eye on something bigger than just your average jewel. Long ago, a powerful enchantress stored all of her strength into a single jewel. Through time, the jewel was eventually lost, so we don't know exactly what it looks like now, but we do know that if Yuudai gets his hands on it, its power will be able to amplify his spells unimaginably. We've got to recover it before he does."

"Does that mean…No beach?" Kuwabara whined.

"Alright fine, Botan. Damn, and here we went and setup a fun day with Yuki this weekend." Yusuke commented.

"Perhaps if we hurry we can still make it for tomorrow or Sunday?" Kurama suggested.

"Hn. I don't care." Hiei smirked, "So long as I get to fight."

"Well then, all set?" Botan said, "We'll have to bring Yuki to Genkai's tonight."

"But she's out shopping with my mother right now." Kurama said.

"Well fine then." Botan said, sitting on her oar, "I'll give Koenma my report right now. Kurama, when your mother and Yuki return be sure to bring her to Genkai's. Yusuke, Kuwabara, you should stay with him just to make sure you're all together. I'll be back in a few hours!"

* * *

Yuki giggled as Shiori handed her another dress to try on. This was just what she needed to get her mind off of things. The dresses humans wore, she found, were quite cute, and the cotton fabrics were light and soft. She loved how the colors were so vibrant, and how there were so many accessories that went with it. Of course she didn't want Shiori to buy everything that they looked at, but the wonderful woman insisted that she didn't mind. Shiori went up to the counter to buy the clothes and trinkets they had decided upon, telling Yuki that it was alright if she went outside first.

Yuki smiled and thanked her for the hundredth time that evening for everything she was doing for her. She left the store, the doors sliding shut behind her. There were many others on the streets as well, despite the late hour. They were looking into store windows or cuddling up to their significant others. It the soft glow of the street lights and the stars, Yuki felt that there was something romantic about the scene. The sight of so many happy couples seemed to calm her, for the feelings of guilt that had begun to eat away at her again soon disappeared. However, now her mind was wandering to Yusuke. She didn't understand his sudden need to watch her every second of every minute of ever hour of every day. He hadn't been so protective before, and she began to wonder if it had had something to do with what that demon from before had said to him.

"Come to think of it," Yuki said to herself, "I didn't even bother to ask him who had come to see him, or what exactly he had said." Yuki paused, frowning to herself as she said, "I wonder why…I wonder why Yusuke's acting so strangely today?"

"He's acting just as we'd anticipated. Humans are so easy to predict." A voice floated to her ears. Her eyes frantically searched for the owner of that voice. Turning, her blue eyes soon fell upon a man with long, dark black hair, some of it cascading over the side of his face, the ebony of his hair accentuating his amused green eyes. He was smiling pleasantly as he approached her, "Hello, Lady Hyousetsu."

Yuki showed him no emotions, refusing to react to his intimidation, "Who are you? Are you the demon who went looking for Yusuke yesterday?"

"I'm hurt, Princess." He said, feigning pain, "It seems you have no recollection of me at all. Allow me to reintroduce myself to you. I am Nanairo, leader of the Prism Bandits. And no, it was not I who sought out the Spirit Detective. I personally sent someone to see the human boy."

"What did you do to Yusuke?" Yuki demanded, "Why is he acting so strangely?"

Nanairo chuckled in amusement, "Quite protective, aren't you? I assure you, I've done nothing to boy. All I did was have my man feed him a few lies regarding your memories. And like a true person who's lost their memories, your own mind twisted your true memories to fit just what Hyouga said."

"Liar." Yuki said.

"As I said, humans are so predictable. Really, their emotions dictate everything they do! He's become so paranoid since then hasn't he? Even now, he's got that little fire demon with the third eye watching you like a hawk. By making him paranoid, he'll spend all of his time and energy watching your every movement every second of the day, and when he's too tired to think, that's when I'll strike. And all it took was one lie."

"What do you mean?"

"I told Hyouga to tell him your life's story, with a few twists. He got so creative, too." He chuckled again, his laugh chilling Yuki despite the fact that she was an ice demon, "The deaths of your family members would hardly be complete if they were not all done by us, and telling him the truth would shatter his image of you as a poor, innocent, damsel in distress."

"The truth about what?" Yuki implored, "What are you talking about?"

Nanairo grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself, "Come now, Princess, even you have begun to question the authenticity of your memories. I am speaking of your mother's murder, of course. There was only one person in the room with Queen Setsugekka when she died, and that person was none other than _**you**_, Lady Hyousetsu."

"Sh-shut up!" Yuki stuttered, "How would you know?!"

"Deny all you want, Lady Hyousetsu. But ask yourself this. Who was it that held the knife that had been plunged into the body of Queen Setsugekka? Who was it that was _**drenched **_in her blood?!"

"St-stop, liar!" Yuki said, her eyes wide with confusion. Her shaking hands began to clutch at her pounding head as memories of that night flashed through her mind, too fast to comprehend. "I can't…Can't remember…"

"_Yuki." _Hiei's voice said in her mind, and suddenly he was there, right in front of her. The slightly taller demon was much faster than the other three boys, who were coming as fast as they could move. As he watched the struggling girl with his red eyes he was strangely overcome with an odd sensation, as if he should hold her close, tell her everything was alright, to comfort her, but no matter what he did, he could not find the strength to do so.

"Hiei," She said, looking into his eyes, "I…" Her blue eyes looked passed him for a second, but Nanairo was gone. All that remained was a strange pile of glittering glass where he had just stood. "N-nothing…It's nothing…" She said slowly, her eyes falling to the floor. Hiei's mouth opened, grappling for something to say, just a few words of comfort, but no sound came from his throat.

"Yuki?" Shiori appeared from out of the store, carrying the bags. "Where are you?"

Hiei swiftly disappeared, relieved that he had managed to escape that awkward situation. Yuki immediately went to her, "Here, Ms. Minamino. Let me help you carry those."

"It's getting pretty late." Shiori said as Yuki took half the bags, "I don't know if we'll have time to buy you a new coat. Do you think mountain temples are very cold?"

"Um…I'm not sure what you're talking about, Ms. Minamino?"

"Don't tell me you forgot about your school trip to the temple?" Shiori giggled, "They said that you'll be staying for the entire weekend, and we've only got until 6 o'clock tonight to finish shopping and packing. We've got an hour left, but I think we have time to buy you a new jacket."

Still confused, Yuki followed Shiori into another store, where they quickly picked out a nice jean jacket decorated with a beautiful white flower embroidery and went home to pack. Shiori said goodbye to them on the front step, trusting them to be able to make it to the school themselves. She shouted goodbyes to them as Kurama and Yuki pretended to walk to school.

* * *

On the bus ride to Genkai's temple, the five of them were silent, even deathly so. Along the way they had explained to her to the best of their extent that she needed to stay at Genkai's this weekend, but had purposely avoided telling her why. Yuki hadn't said a word after that, only stared quietly out of the bus window. Kurama was sitting next to her, Hiei straight across, and Yusuke and Kuwabara sat behind. Through the reflection in the window, Yuki could see that Hiei was staring directly at her with his intense crimson eyes. She chanced a glance at him; he was staring hard at her, as if he were pondering a philosophical question. Yuki looked away quickly, not wanting to be "understood" tonight.

The walk up the temple steps wasn't any better. Yusuke was at the head, followed by Kuwabara, then Kurama and Hiei. Kurama made sure to keep an eye on Yuki, who trailed several steps behind the boys, looking at the ground the entire time.

"Hey, Urameshi," Kuwabara whispered, "Do you think she's gonna be alright?"

"What do you think, moron." Yusuke retorted.

"I don't know. She has this weird expression on her face…like she's mad or something."

"She's not mad, more like disappointed or sad. Besides, even if she were mad, she has a right to be. It's not like we told her the real reason we're bailing out on this weekend."

"Tell me again why we didn't tell her the truth?" Kuwabara said.

"Because. You know how she is. If she knew we were going out on a mission she'd want to come too."

"You boys are late." Genakai said as they walked through the temple gates. "Yuki, follow me and I'll show you to your room. It won't be much, just a table and futon, but it's better than nothing."

"Oh, no, of course. Thank you for putting up with me." Yuki said quietly.

After Genkai had shown Yuki where everything was, they decided to sit and have some tea. Yukina, smiling pleasantly, brought the tea and they grouped around the small floor table. Hiei, of course, didn't join in, sitting outside the door, his back facing in. Yuki chatted with Yukina and Genkai about idle things, like school and boys and clothes, all with a pleasant smile that she had made a point to plaster to her face. Occasionally the boys would chime in, Kuwabara directing most of his conversation to Yukina of course, but their talk was short lived, however, and stiff. They all knew that the four boys would have to leave very soon, the pleasantries just an attempt to make things seem normal.

Yuki followed the four boys back to the steps, stopping at the top, determined to watch them leave. They started down, but stopped and turned back to her when they heard her sigh. "I wish you would tell me what this all about." Yuki said with a frown, her eyes filled with concern. Sheepishly, she stood holding one arm with a soft hand behind her back, a foot pointed on the floor, staring at the floor out of worriment. She knew something was wrong, she could feel it in the air. Kuwabara, though he tried to smile, looked nervous, and Kurama's face was devoid of emotion, and Hiei…And Hiei refused to even look her in the eyes, opting instead to stare at nothing in the woods that surrounded them.

Yusuke was the closest, standing a several steps down so that their eyes were now level with each other. "Hey now," Yusuke said in a joking voice, making her look up from the ground, "It's just a guy thing. Tonight and tomorrow; give us two days tops! You'll be safe here, you'll see."

"It isn't my safety that I'm worried about." She replied bluntly.

"I told you, it's just a guy thing. There's nothing to worry about."

"And Botan?" Yuki said, "She's going with you too, isn't she? Otherwise she'd be here at the temple with me."

"No, Yuki, course not!" Kuwabara lied, "She's…getting her hair dyed again!"

"Botan's hair is naturally blue, Kuwabara." She reminded him.

"Er, well…she's a Grim Reaper still, right? She's got…you know…Grim Reaper stuff to do!"

"Smooth, Kuwabara." Yusuke said. They glared at each other for a moment before Yusuke turned back to Yuki. His brown eyes met hers as he said, "You'll see. Try not to worry too much about us, okay? It's the weekend. We'll be back before you know it."

With that said, they boys started back down the temple steps. Yuki sighed again once she could no longer see them, and decided to go back into the temple. Yuki sat down with Yukina and Genkai for a while longer, the only thing they could hear was the wind blowing outside. The gates to the temple suddenly creaked open and someone shouted, "Hey! Anyone here?"

Yuki didn't recognize the voice, but Genkai and Yukina seemed to. She followed the two of them outside. Her eyes fell on Keiko, who was holding a blue penguin-esque thing in her arms. There was also another girl with her, one that was perhaps in her twenties, smoking a cigarette. She ran a hand through her chocolate colored locks and smiled kindly when her eyes fell upon Yuki.

"Keiko, Shizuru, what're you two doing here?" Yukina asked pleasantly, smiling at her friends.

"My baby brother called me." Shizuru said, "Something about keeping a girl company? I'm guessing that would be you?" Shizuru cocked her head at Yuki.

"Me?" Yuki said, numbly pointing to herself.

"Yeah, that's right, Yuki." Keiko smiled softly, "It's the first time Yusuke's ever willingly told me about one of his cases, so I guess you must be someone really special to him."

"Oh, no…Keiko…Yusuke and I, we aren't…" Yuki stuttered, attempting to clear the misunderstanding.

Keiko just simply smiled, "I know. Come on, let's get inside! It'll be just like a sleepover! This is Puu, by the way." She smiled again at Yuki, carrying Puu with her, as she chatted with Genkai and Yukina.

Yuki trailed behind them, still confused by their sudden arrival. Shizuru lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey. We never got introduced properly. I'm Shizuru Kuwabara."

"Kuwabara? I see now, you're Kazuma Kuwabara's sister then? It's so nice to finally meet you!"

She nodded, "Yeah. To tell you the truth I was a little shocked when Kazuma called me tonight. I think he was worried about you."

"Well we were supposed to meet this weekend anyway." Yuki said, "See, we were going to go to the beach, and we were going to invite everyone along, but I guess something came up…"

"Do you know what's going on?" Shizuru asked.

"No," Yuki said, hope filling her mind, "Do you?!"

Shizuru sighed, "Sorry, kid, but I was asking cuz I was kinda hoping you could tell me. Guess we're both in the dark, huh?" Yuki nodded slowly.

"Shizuru, Yuki, come on!" Keiko called to the two, "We can start with avocado masks!"

"A…vo…cado masks…?" Yuki said, confused, imagining in her mind having to carve some sort of tribal mask from an avocado, "I don't…I don't think they're big enough to masks from…"

"Now I know you're not a human." Shizuru smirked, "I wasn't sure at first, but now I know."

"How did you - ?"

Shizuru pushed her inside, "I'll explain later. Come on, let's get those avocado masks on."

* * *

Yuki sighed as Keiko ran a brush through her wavy brown hair, her diamond blues closed. Soon after, Shizuru cut the dead ends away and pulled it back into a ponytail. "Boy, you've got a lot of hair." Shizuru chuckled as she attempted to wrap the band one more time, only to have it snap in her hand. "I'm guessing…no ponytails?"

Yuki smiled, "Sorry. I'm told I get the volume from my mother."

"Oh, really? Hm, she must have really healthy hair then." She joked.

"So, what's your mother like?" Keiko asked softly, running a brush through Yukina's hair as well. "What she kind?"

"That's…what I'd like to know…" Yuki said quietly.

"Oh…Oh!" Keiko clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she'd asked about something insensitive, "I'm so sorry, Yuki, I didn't…"

Yuki shook her head, "No, it's alright. I don't mind. I'm so glad you guys decided to come this weekend; I don't know what I'd do if I had to stay all by myself."

The three girls laughed. Soon they made popcorn and decided to watch movies. Keiko giggled during the romantic comedies but cried near the middle when their was a misunderstanding between the main girl and boy, squeezing Puu tightly, and Shizuru shouted during the action flick, and Yukina nearly burst into tears at the end of another romantic drama. Yuki smiled at the little quirks she observed from each of the three girls. She was intrigued by the movies, enamored as usual with anything dealing with humans. She vaguely wondered why humans made these sorts of movies if they made you angry or sad, but such was humans she supposed. However, her mind wasn't paying attention to the movies, wandering towards the boys. What could they possibly be doing that she wasn't allowed to go with them? She had had so many questions that she wanted to ask the boys, but there hadn't been time to ask any of them. Somehow, even with these three girls who were always with the boys she still felt out of place. Yukina was a demon like she was, but there was still something different. It's not that she didn't like the girls, no quite the opposite actually, yet all she could think of was the boys.

Yuki sighed silently, slipping from the room as Shizuru began to scream at the TV again, whilst Shizuru and Yukina laughed at her. The three, not yet used to her presence, didn't register her departure. She wandered the outdoor gardens of Genkai's compound, padding across the wooden outside hallways, her eyes on the sky.

"Hmm?" Genkai, sitting outside with a cup of tea and a smoking pipe, turned towards her. "What're you doing out here? Shouldn't you be watching movie with the girls?"

Yuki leaned up against the wall just behind Genkai, "I could ask you the same, Master Genkai."

Genkai smirked as she took another puff of her pipe, "I'm old, little girl, and I'm beyond those times to spend the night watching flicks. And you?"

Yuki shook her head, "I'm…just not used to it, I guess. It's so…I don't know."

"You know, it is possible for a demon girl to fully integrate into a human's life style." Genkai suggested to her, "Yukina has done so quite well."

"Yes, she has I suppose." She replied, looking at the polished wooden floor, "But…I guess there's a part of me that's just not ready to give that part of myself up, yet. I don't have a lot to hold onto, Master Genkai. You see…I've lost all my memories…If I give up being a demon, give up knowing that I'm a demon, I'll be giving up a lot of all I know."

Genkai turned towards her, her brown eyes slightly suspicious, "I won't pretend that I'm all together too thrilled to have you here. Not only are you a demon but you're a demon I do not know. While I do trust my apprentice's judgement, I do have my own questions as to why he would even need to protect a demon of your caliber."

"Don't worry." Yuki answered, "I have no intentions of causing damage to this world."

Genkai looked away, "Are you so sure? If you don't have a clue who you really are, then how do you know?"

"But…I…" Yuki said softly, at a loss for words. "I don't know…"

* * *

_She was shouting. Yuki was back home, in Snow Kingdom. She was in her mother's room with Queen Setsugekka, shouting across the room at one another. Suddenly there was a dagger in her hand, the silvery blade glinting in the moonlight as she ran forward. As she plunged the blade into her mother, blood spilled forward, splattering on the floor and soaking into her clothes. Queen Setsugekka crashed to the floor, as Yuki stepped forward, dropping the dagger with a resounding clatter to the floor. She moved till she was standing over her own dying mother, and as her blood pooled around her draining body, a smile curled onto her face and she laughed…

* * *

_

Yuki sat up in her futon on the floor, gasping for air as her blood ran cold in her veins. She trembled in her bed even though the night was warm. What had she just dreamed…? She looked down at her quaking hands, but all she could see was the red, the red of her own mother's blood. Her guilt mixed with pleasure; she had been laughing at the death of her mother. Yuki shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. No, she hadn't been the one to kill her mother. It was a lie. Nanairo was just messing with her mind. Or was she? Was he telling her the truth? She wanted to believe that she wouldn't have done that, but who was she really? What had she been like? What had Hyousetsu been like?! Had she been a ruthless killer? Smiling and laughing, finding amusement in the death and suffering of others? Or someone else…? Could she possibly…?Was it possible that…?

Yuki laid back down, suddenly feeling so very alone. She turned over, the feeling of being lost consuming her. 'How can I be sure…' She thought as tears began to spill from her eyes, 'How can I be sure of who I am…?' She stared out through the paper door towards the night sky. She had been alright, while she was with the boys. She had been alright. With them, she was just…Just Yuki. But now…?

'Boys…' She thought to herself, 'Please come back soon…'

* * *

Alright, there's chapter six!! Sorry it took so so long for me to put this one out! So who is Hyousetsu? Is she the person she is thought to be, or is she a murderer? What happened so long ago? Who is the real killer of Queen Setsugekka? And will the boys return soon enough for Yuki to not lose her mind? Will Yuki ever regain her memories?


End file.
